Fire Cat
by Kaos Incarnate
Summary: A new mutant joins the X-men. This is my first fic, so go easy. Rated for language and implied sexual content
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: Yeah, I own X-men Evolution

**Disclaimer: Yeah, I own X-men Evolution. That's why I'm writing fanfics on the net, rather than making up new episodes. Right. Suing me would be a complete waste of time. Leo and the Darks are mine, though.**

Okay, here's how it works. I get seven reviews, I post a new chapter. Flames will be completely ignored. If you don't like it, don't come back.

Oh, special thanks to Chaya, for editing these things. If you haven't read her fanfics, do it. She's good!

**On with the story.**

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How do you start these things, anyway? I guess I'll just start from the beginning and see how that goes.

My name is Leo Lyons. Yes, I know how repetitive it is. On the other hand, I guess I can't really complain. After all, I did think it up myself.

See, in order to understand anything I'm going to tell you, you have to know two things about me. One, I've been living on the streets for as long as I can remember. My parents probably threw me out when I was born, though of course I don't remember. I like to think that maybe they honestly couldn't take care of me, but that just seems _way_ too much like a coincidence.

The second thing that you need to know about me is that I'm a mutant.

I'm not the type of mutant that you could walk by on the street and barely notice they're there at all. I'm more the type of mutant that has an amazing ability to be shot at while anyone else in the area turns their heads.

Do I sound bitter?

Anyway, I have orange fur with darker-orange-to-red stripes. I've got claws, which are retractable. I have a tail, which hangs down to my ankles.

Few people have ever mistaken me for a normal person.

I'm also short and muscular, which helps when I have run-ins with the gangs in the area that are anti-mutant. I have normal, brown eyes, which is odd as I can see in the dark. I'm graceful, though I don't look it.

I have the ability to use my claws, be graceful, and see in the dark.

I am, all in all, a male tabby cat.

I do also have the ability to create fire, which is a big plus.

I knew a grand total of two people in my old town, one of which was blind and the other, crazy.

I was raised by a madman named "Crazy Joe". A thought that scares me to no end, actually. I was home schooled by an old woman who had been born blind. She never found out what I was.

You're probably wishing I would get on with it and tell my story, so lets move on.

I guess the whole thing started when I gained my powers.

I was working in an old abandoned garage on my motorbike, that I had been building from a rundown Harley and another bike, a Yamaha. You ended up with this odd-looking thing, which Joe called the "Harlaha", and I was to sorry for the guy to say no. Anyway, I had nearly finished the thing (which I had been working on for the better part of two years, since I was thirteen), when the Darks showed up.

The Darks were the gang of the neighborhood. I believe the way to get into their gang was to kill someone in the most gruesome way possible. And the Darks were very creative.

The leader stepped up, using the same intimidation move he always used. "Hey there, mutie," he said quietly. "Did'ya know you were trespassing on our turf. Say," he happened to notice the Harlaha, "that's a nice bike."

I shrugged. "Whatever."

That may sound suicidal, but for this gang, if you backed up and gave them what they wanted, they'd kill you. If you stood up to them, they'd beat the hell out of you and let you live. It was, in a way, a show of respect.

Dark 1 stepped up. "You mouthin' us, boy?"

I shook my head in disbelief. "Been watchin' too many gangster movies, _boys._" I quickly checked for any extra backup, though it was unnecessary. This gang didn't use backup. That left the odds at seven to one.

Perfect. Just great. I was dead.

Dark 2 was next. It was a routine I had seen quite a few times, and I been the target of a couple myself. He put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Ya mind if we take the bike for a spin?"

I grabbed his arm. He wasn't expecting that, and looked shocked.

"Back off." I growled.

At this point, I was very high strung. I was scared of the Darks, angry that they had chosen to bother me, and a little shocked that I had grabbed his arm. Not that I was being very reasonable at that point.

So, of course, I ended up lighting the guy's arm on fire.

He was wearing a leather jacket, typically, which didn't burn as well as you might think, but nonetheless it freaked him out. He ran screaming out of the garage.

I was surprised too, to say the least. But I know how to use something to my advantage. I pointed my palm at the remaining Darks and said, "Get out."

They did. Trying to remain calm, I grabbed the Harlaha and got the hell out of there.

Sorry about the length. The rest will be longer.

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	2. Two

After the run-in with the Darks, life went pretty much back to normal, while I foraged around for food, and managed to fix the

**Disclaimer: I still don't own X-men Evolution, and anyone who says different will be beaten over the head with a wiffle bat. Any o/c in here is mine of course.**

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**Okay, about seven reviews… let's just forget I said that, shall we? Review if you want to.**

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**Flames are still being ignored, though helpful criticism is always nice (something I forgot to mention in chapter one, thanks Rina)**

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After the run-in with the Darks, life went pretty much back to normal, while I foraged around for food, and managed to fix the bike. The Harlaha, I was totally convinced, was my way out of my life. All I needed now was money for gas and to get everything in order. I was in Joe's rundown, government-paid apartment, telling him I wouldn't be around anymore, when I glanced out the window. And it happened.

Someone hit the bike.

Actually, it wasn't all that surprising. In my area of Seattle, the weapon of choice is the car. It seems as though anyone who passes into this area suddenly loses their mind to road rage. The fact that I had finished the bike two days ago (it was five days after the Dark incident) was a little off-putting.

If you live where I live, and you are in a traffic accident, your options are to either curse madly or to pay for damages. And I was _not_ paying for this.

So, I grabbed the necessities. I had noticed that in a sweatshirt with a hood and a cap, I looked somewhat human. Plus, it was about eight in the evening, and dark for spring. (Which it was, by the way. April.) After I had yanked everything on, I went to see who had the death wish.

I was surprised to see that they were still there. It had been a long shot, but neighbors being neighbors, and this being Seattle, people tended to take down license plate numbers when such circumstances arose. So, the car actually being there still was a real shock.

I stopped to observe the car. It was nice, actually. In fact, it practically screamed "WE'RE RICH! WE'RE RICH!"

Which, in Seattle, is always followed closely by "ROB ME! ROB ME!"

But I digress.

The car was a shiny red. The type that, had you known anything about cars, would have you worshipping it within the hour.

Hell, I know next to nothing about cars, and _I_ was impressed.

I realized that the couple getting out of the car was more important to the welfare of the Harlaha, so I quickly went on to study them. The first was a guy wearing red shades with brown hair. I wondered what color his eyes were, as the glasses were too thick and too _red _to really see through.

The other person was a girl at about the same height, with red hair and blue eyes. She seemed… upset.

"Scott, be more _careful _when you park," she said, sounding borderline-angry.

"Relax, Jean," the boy, Scott, replied. "It was just an accident. I'll try to find the owner, and we'll make sure it isn't broken."

That was my cue.

"Ya just found him," I said, stepping up.

They both jumped. I couldn't afford to let anyone see my face, so I had pulled an old, ratty hat down around my ears, which, I now realized, must not be the most comforting sight in the world.

"A-are you the person this bike belongs to?" "Scott" stammered. I realized suddenly that he wasn't from around here. Otherwise, a shadowed person wouldn't have freaked him out like he was.

"I believe that's been implied," I retorted.

The girl smiled. "We're really very sorry about that."

"I can see where you'd be so broken-hearted about it."

"Look, if the bike is damaged, we'll be happy to pay a mechanic to fix it up," Jean mentioned.

I decided against telling them the bike's history, as they were sure to not care. Instead, I looked over the fallen Harlaha. Nothing damaged, which was good, as it would've seemed strange to the couple if I burst into tears. I _loved_ that bike.

"So," I said, for lack of anything better to say, "What brings you to Seattle, anyway?"

They seemed surprised. "You can tell we're not from around here?" Scott asked me. I gave him my patented half-smirk, which of course he couldn't see.

"Yeah. You're definitely not Seattle-born. Which doesn't answer my question. What brings you to Seattle in general, and this area in specific? This ain't exactly Beverly Hills."

Jean looked at Scott. "I don't see why we can't tell him."

Scott nodded. "Maybe he can help us."

I raised an eyebrow, once again forgetting they couldn't see my face. "This should be interesting, if you have to talk about it. J…" Damn. They hadn't actually given me their names. If I made it seem like I knew their names… well, they had acted pretty oddly when I had asked what they were doing there. "…Gee, what are your names?" I finished lamely. 

Jean smiled. "This is Scott Summers," she said, "and I'm Jean Grey. And you are?"

Scott cut me off before I could answer. "Do you know a kid in the area named Leo Lyons?"

I thanked my lucky stars that I hadn't given my name. "I'd have to think about it. Why are you looking for him?"

"That's our business."

The gift to think on your feet is the gift of kings, which didn't really explain why I had it.

"Look," I said, "I am Leo's major friend. If you don't tell me, then he doesn't get the message. If he doesn't get the message, you don't get him."

"If you're a friend of Leo," challenged Scott, "then describe him. What does he look like?"

"Needs a good shave?" I said sarcastically. Then, I just couldn't resist. "Irresistible to the opposite sex?"

Both Scott and Jean looked a bit taken aback by that last description, though they didn't catch on. "Seriously," said Scott.

I gave him the same description as was in the first chapter, without the colorful embellishments. When I was done, Scott nodded.

"Alright. Now, why are you looking for him?"

This was the worst possible time for a car to pass with its lights on. So, of course, one did.

I blinked madly. So did Jean and Scott.

"Leo!?" Jean shouted. Scott looked shocked. Which, I guess, could happen to anyone when one is faced with an orange cat-boy.

I took off the damned cap and threw it to the ground. "You found me," I said calmly, "now tell me what you want."

If anything, the pair seemed more taken aback by my abruptness than by the way I looked. On the other hand, they had been expecting me to be like this.

I suddenly realized that my train of thought had been derailed, and glared at Jean.

"Well," she started slowly, "you have the power to create fire, am I right?"

That I was not expecting. "Yes, go on."

She nodded. "Scott and I come from a special school called 'The Xavier Institute for the Gifted.' It's a school for mutants, who are taught how to control their gifts."

It occurred to me that she never referred to them as mutant powers. Always "gifts". "Are you telling me that I've been selected to go to this 'special school'?" I asked.

"That's right." She apparently mistook my look of mixed joy and shock for something else and hurried on. "We have the technology to make you look like a normal person while you're there. You'll still have to make sure that you don't actually touch anyone, but you'll look no different than anyone else."

I considered kissing her. Instead, I fell back on the old tried and true method of acting like I didn't give a damn.

"I'll consider it," I said calmly. "Is there somewhere I can reach you?"

She smiled and floated me some odd device, and said, "Just use this, and I'll hear you." Whereupon I stared at the thing as if she had handed me a bicycle pump, and she taught me how to use the damned thing, a process that I will not waste my time trying to explain.

Once they had left, I figured I would pack all of my clothes (or rather, six shirts, two pairs of jeans, and seven pairs of socks that had been thrown out because they had been ripped, and ten pairs of boxer shorts that I had stolen. I would hopefully never see the cap again) into my suitcase (which I had also stolen), grab the Harlaha (I would never leave the bike. Never!), call Jean and Scott, and get out of this hellhole otherwise known as Seattle.

Or at least, that was the plan.

As it was, I was heading back toward where I lived, or rather a deserted street with an abandoned mattress…

Whoops. That was bitterness.

…_Any_way, as I was heading "home", I ran into yet _another_ couple of visitors.

"Good evening, Leo," said a short, straight-backed, brown-haired woman crisply. She gave him a small smile.

My reply was slightly less polite.

"Who the hell are you?"

"My name," as she spoke, she suddenly transformed into a woman of the same size, the same height, but she was blue and covered by scales, with red hair (her, not the scales),

"is Mystique."

I snarled. "When I ask 'who are you?', I mean 'What do you want with me?', and 'Why?'. Got an answer?"

Mystique's smile widened. "Temper, temper, Leo."

I quickly glanced over to the other person, a teenager at about sixteen years. He looked oddly familiar, but I couldn't place him at first. After all, I had a grand total of no friends my age.

Mystique apparently realized that I wasn't going to rise to the bait, and continued on. "I have an offer for you. How would you like a place to stay?"

I wondered if someone had been handing out my résumé or something. "Lyons, Leo. Homeless. Can create fire with his mind. Covered with fur. Needs mutant-friendly environment."

"No thanks." I said. "I've got some people who already offered." And I left. Or, at least, I tried. Instead, Mystique stepped in my way.

"The X-men?" she asked, sounding angry, "What fools."

"X-men?" I asked. This had been neglected to mention in my conversation earlier, with Jean and Scott.

"Xavier's Institute for the gifted," she said heatedly.

"Ah. Yes, that's the one. Why are they so foolish?"

"Well," she started, haughtily, "they think they can convince humans that mutants are harmless."

"What!? How _dare _they have goals which help others, and not just themselves?" I said sarcastically.

Mystique turned to me. "Do you believe that, Leo. Don't you remember what humans did to you?"

I had to admit that she had a point. But I had decided long ago that my parents were probably prejudiced.

And I wouldn't be.

"All right. So my parents weren't the best example of a loving family. That doesn't necessarily mean that all humans are that way."

Mystique frowned at me. "Well, you've made your choice. However, we can't let you go to the X-men either, can we?"

She turned to the boy at the same second I recognized him.

"You," I said, "You're one of the Darks, aren't you?"

The teen gave me a nasty grin. "Glad you figured it out, kid."

Mystique also smiled. "Meet my new student, May Akins."

I almost fainted.

"Your name is _May!?_"

_May_ was looking angrily at Mystique- not that I could blame him. "I thought I told you to call me by my last name, Akins."

"How did _that _happen?" I asked.

"Well, my great-aunt had cancer, and my mother was pregnant, and my aunt's dying wish was to have them name the baby after her so… hey! It's none of your business!" _May_ shouted.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Now what do you want? Are ya gonna beat the hell out of me?"

Mystique frowned at me. "I said he was my _student,_ Leo."

I punched May in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"Hypocrite!" I shouted, "You chase me around because _I'm _a mutant, and you've been one all this time?!"

May stood up. "We're nothing alike. I may be a mutant, but you're a freak."

"I'm as much a freak as you are. No more, no less. You aren't just a mutant, you're a _monster!_"

May growled deep in his throat. "Now you'll see my powers," he said, trying to sound dramatic and failing miserably.

His eyes suddenly went a reddish purple, whites, pupils, and all. A small, black ball appeared in his hand, so dark that it was hard to see at that hour of the night. He smiled.

"So long, Leo Lyons."

You'd have to be an idiot not to duck.

A thin beam of the black stuff shot toward where I'd been, narrowly missing both my shoulder and face and causing some major destruction to a building behind me. I was more than a little startled, let me tell you.

"WHAT THE HELL'S THAT?!"

Mystique smiled as she morphed- I was pretty sure that was what she was doing- back to the short woman she had appeared as. "Akins has the ability to use darkness itself as a weapon. Here, in the night, his powers are incredibly strong."

This did not make me happy. What made me even unhappier was the fact that Akins had pulled on some dark glasses, meaning I couldn't see his eyes and thus had no early warning system.

"Duck this, Leo," he said, and sent another blast.

I did. The building behind me was not looking good, as it now had two round three-feet by three-feet (just an estimate. I wasn't about to stop and measure them) holes in one side.

Mystique snorted. "You fool. Don't tell him when you are about to attack."

Damn her.

Sure enough the next blast came without warning. I didn't have time to duck. I just covered my head with my arms and hoped that the blast wasn't as strong as it seemed.

The outcome, I was not expecting.

My palm was pointing in his direction, totally unplanned, and I was freaking out. Which meant that my powers went off again.

Not that I was _unhappy _with the outcome, you understand.

A wave of fire shot out of my hands, striking the line of darkness. For some reason, this caused a small explosion, stopping both attacks in their tracks.

Except for the "small" part.

I found myself flying backward into aforementioned building.

After I had managed to open my eyes, I saw May lying unconscious about twenty-five feet away, Mystique was nowhere to be seen, and I found I liked both of them better that way.

Of course, I quickly changed my opinion when a fifteen-foot, muscle-bound man, or rather, Mystique, picked me up, shoved me against the wall, and started to strangle me.

"WHY won't you make this easy, and just DIE?!"

I considered all the witty comments that I could reply with if I wasn't being strangled.

Luckily, at that point, the Calvary arrived.

Mystique shrieked in pain and surprise when he/she was struck with some sort of shot of red energy. I started to fall the ten feet to the ground, but felt something catch me and lower me softly to the ground.

As I struggled to catch my breath, it occurred to me that I had never asked Scott and Jean what their powers were.

I spun, to see that, yes, Scott and Jean had shown up. Scott's visor thing was still glowing slightly. That left telekinetics to Jean.

I sprinted over to them, and spun to make a united front. Not that it mattered. Mystique and May were nowhere to be found.

Turning to Jean, I asked, "What's this about the X-men?"

Once she got over the surprise of not having told me (I assured her she hadn't) she explained the general X-men rules, how they try to keep the Brotherhood of Mutants under control, and how you shouldn't destroy humans because they didn't understand, and they would hopefully learn.

"Hmm…oh, right. Thanks for helping me back there."

Scott grinned at me. "Hey, we had to help a possible X-men, right?"

I couldn't help but give him a small smirk. "Yeah, well, let's make that 'future X-men' and call it a deal."

Now it was Jean's turn to smile. "Here, take this," she said, as she handed me a… watch.

"What's this?"

"It's an image inducer. When you use it, you'll look completely normal."

"Great! I'm riding my bike. I'll follow you both, so don't worry about me." I headed to the Harlaha, wondering vaguely what the Institute was going to be like.

I knew one thing, though. My life was about to get very interesting.

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	3. Three

Jean and Scott didn't exactly live near, so we spent a lot of meals and rest stops getting to know one another

**Disclaimer: *shock* I still don't own X-men Evolution!**

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Jean and Scott didn't exactly live near, so we spent a lot of meals and rest stops getting to know one another.

It was during one of these rest stops (in a McDonalds, which is unimportant, but of course I'd never eaten there.) that they started to tell me all about the others in the mansion.

"First, there's Professor Xavier, who runs and pays for the institute. He's in a wheelchair, has the ability to read minds, and things like that," Jean began. "Then there's Ororo, one of the other teachers and caretakers. She's very motherly, so there's no reason that you shouldn't get along with her."

Scott picked up the conversation. "As for the students, there's Evan, whose Ororo's nephew. He's the typical skateboarder. Rouge is kind of independent and to herself, but she's pretty nice if you get to know her. Kitty is a bit preppy, but she's okay. And Kurt…" Scott and Jean gave one another small smiles.

"You'll like Kurt." Jean finished.

I was a bit curious as to why I would like Kurt, but I let it drop.

"Is that everyone?" I asked them.

"Well…" Jean said hesitantly, "There is Logan. He's… _very _independent. You actually might want to watch yourself around him. He's not a bad guy, deep, _deep _underneath."

"Hmm." Then I looked at Scott and noticed he'd been studying me thoughtfully. "Something wrong?"

"Well, no," Scott said, "It's just that… you look very familiar, somehow. I don't know why, but…" He trailed off.

I shrugged. "When you met me, I was… not wearing a watch. I look just like I did, but without some attributes, which would make me look identical, rather then familiar."

"Well, that never happened with Kurt."

So that's why they thought I would like Kurt. He was apparently not normal either. "Yeah, well, maybe you'd known him longer than you've known me." This time it was Jean's turn to be caught studying me. "Yes?"

Jean smiled. "You don't sound like you were raised on the street. You've got quite a vocabulary when you choose to use it."

I smirked. "Thanks. I was home schooled, and then self-taught."

She looked startled. "Quite the go-getter, huh?"

I smiled, and rose to throw away my trash, like the others had when they had finished. "I pride myself on learning things quickly. Shall we go?"

Actually the ride home was more-or-less uneventful (except for a fun near-death experience, which left Scott embarrassed, Jean in hysterical laughter, and me completely furious with Scott for the next half-hour. That was when Jean started driving, to my relief.), so let's skip to when we actually got to the mansion.

I would've expected someone to be outside as a welcoming committee (even a friend of Jean or Scott, I wasn't expecting much for myself), but then again, no one knew when we were coming.

So, the first person I got to meet was Logan.

From what Jean and Scott had told me, I knew it was Logan just by looking at him. No wheelchair, no fur or watch, and built more like a boxer than a skateboarder. 

I hopped off the bike and slowly extended my hand. "Hi, names Leo. You must be Logan."

Logan glared at me for a few seconds, then took my hand and shook it. "That's right." He glanced around. "Where's One-Eye and Jeannie?"

I didn't need an explanation. "Parking the car."

"Ah." He turned his attention to the bike. "What type of ride is this?"

I couldn't help myself. "It's a Harlaha."

He shot me an odd look and I hurried on. "That is, it's a Harley and a Yamaha. I took parts of both and made this. A friend called it the Harlaha, and I guess it stuck."

Logan looked startled. "Ya tellin' me you built this entire thing from the ground up? That's pretty impressive, Junior."

I quickly noticed I had just gained a new nickname.

"Yeah. The transmission isn't as smooth as I'd like it to be though."

Logan nodded. "Let's take a look."

A few minutes later, the two of us were leaning over the bike, Logan giving me a lecture on why I should've used the Yamaha's transmission rather than the Harley's. I was wishing I could take notes.

"Y'see, Junior," Logan was saying, "the Yamaha hookup here was a good idea. And, yeah, I would've used the Harley transmission under normal circumstances, but _this _hookup and _this _transmission are offsetting each other."

"So I should switch to Yamaha?"

"No, kid, I'm saying ya should switch the _hookup, _and stick with Yamaha, but get a later model."

"Right!"

That was when Jean and Scott showed up.

Scott looked startled. "I _knew _you looked familiar. You two look a lot alike."

Surprised, I glanced at Logan. We kind of had the same sharp chin, and I could see the eyes, but otherwise…

I glanced at Scott. "I think you're still dizzy from the three-sixty stunt you pulled earlier." I told him.

Scott blushed furiously, Jean giggled, and Logan chuckled softly. Then Logan turned to me. "Ya know, I heard you were of the furry variety."

"Oh, yeah. Guess I'd better show my true colors," and I flipped of my watch.

Logan gave me a small half-smirk, which looked disturbingly familiar. Then I shook myself. Scott was getting to me.

"Go get 'em, Junior," he said.

I smiled and wheeled the Harlaha toward the garage. Then I took my first real look at the house.

Or rather, the mansion.

"Wow."

I couldn't say anything else for a while.

Jean showed up behind me. "Not bad, huh."

"Not bad?" I squeaked. Yes, I squeaked. I'm not ashamed to admit it.

Jean smiled. "Put away your motorcycle. Then we'll give you the tour."

I did. We went inside.

"Alright," Jean started, "now, let's start on the ground floor. We might as well see the rec room. It's the place we all meet when there's something going on that we need to discuss."

She opened the door and walked through, me on her heels. In the rec room, there were a few couches and chairs sitting around like, I assumed, in any other home. I was already starting to feel at home. There was already someone there, a girl with red hair with a long white stripe through her hair, wearing a black bodice (or whatever you call those things) under a clear green shirt. She was also wearing legging and a skirt, and gloves. She stood up in surprise when we entered.

"Hey, Rouge," said Jean, "this is Leo. He'll be coming to the school."

"Hi," I said, extending my hand. She shrank back a little, to my surprise.

"Is something wrong? I don't bite."

Rouge shook her head. "No, Ah just… Ah can't touch people."

Jean turned to me. "Her mutant powers draw life force from whoever she touches."

"Jeez," I commented, "That really bites."

Rouge smiled slowly. "Yeah."

I extended my hand again. "I'll be careful," I promised. We shook slowly, and I smiled.

"There," I said, "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Rouge laughed. "Oh, ah like ya, Leo."

Jean interrupted. "Where should we go next?"

Rouge grinned. "Ya getting' the tour?"

"Yeah." I turned to Jean, who looked like she was concentrating on something else. "Jean?"

Jean snapped out of it. "Sorry, just talking to the professor. Duty calls. I don't know when I can finish showing you around…"

Rouge jumped in. "Ah'll take care of it."

Jean smiled. It occurred to me how smiley everyone was around here. Myself included, actually.

"Thanks Rouge. You guys have fun."

After she left, Rouge turned to me. "Now, where has Jean taken ya?"

"Here."

Almost an hour later, I had seen nearly the entire house. Rouge was leading me upstairs.

"Now ya need to see two more rooms. One of which is _your _room."

At the top of the stairs were two halls, one to the left and one to the right. Without hesitation, she headed to the right.

"The girls rooms are to the left, guys rooms to the right." She told me. "There are five bedrooms in each hall, for the students. Logan, Ororo, and the Professor sleep downstairs." She came to a door, put her hand on the doorknob, and stopped.

"Ah think ya'll like your room, Leo," she said, and opened the door.

I was in shock.

It was _huge!_

"Did I get the bedroom of honor or something?" I asked.

"Nope. Mine's bigger."

"I'd be jealous if I wasn't having to struggle to see the walls."

Rouge laughed. "Your bathroom is over there."

"I get my own _bathroom?!"_

"Yeah. Now, for the last part of the tour, ya need to go to be tested."

"Tested?"

"Yeah." She grinned. "Ah gotta take ya to the Danger Room."


	4. Four

The Danger Room was a long walk away from the upstairs bedroom

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own X-men Evolution. That _would_ be pretty cool, though.**

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**This is a little late, due to technical errors. Sorry about that.**

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**Enjoy the fic.**

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The Danger Room was a long walk away from the upstairs bedroom. It took maybe ten minutes to reach it, which is way to big a walk for a private house. So, Rouge explained what was going on.

"Ya have to show the Professor how well ya can fight. We have run-ins with this group of mutants who want ta destroy mankind. The Brotherhood of Mutants."

I shuddered. "They don't happen to have a Mystique working for them, do they?"

She winced. "Yeah, why?"

"I… had a run-in."

"Ah see. Here we are."

Rouge opened the thick door in front of us, which lead into what looked like a control room. Logan was there, as well as an older man in a wheelchair. Probably the professor. I stepped forward.

"Well. You must be Leo," the man said.

"That's right."

"My name is Professor Xavier. I run this institute."

I nodded. "Jean and Scott told me about you."

"I see. Do you have any fighting abilities?"

I actually chuckled.

"Professor, I was raised on the streets. Trust me, I can fight."

The professor smiled. "Care to give us a demonstration?"

"No problem." He tossed me a bundle of odd, black clothing. "What's this?"

"Your outfit," Rouge informed me. "We all wear 'em. You can change in there." She pointed toward an inconspicuous door to the side.

"O-okay." So I did. I came back in a much worse mood than I had been in earlier.

"Sumptin' wrong?" Logan asked.

"Yeah. Do you have any idea how hard it is to put this on when you have fur?"

Logan snorted. The professor smiled, though kindly. Rouge struggled not to laugh.

"Let's do this." I said, briefly, and walked into the actual Danger Room. The heavy door closed behind me.

The professor's voice came over the intercom. "Ready, Leo?"

I nodded.

A split second later, a silver blur shot toward me. I dodged nimbly aside.

"What the hell?"

Intercom again. "That would be a sentinel."

"Oh."

The sentinel shot toward me again. I dodged and swung hard.

Bang!

I smirked at the intercom. "What's next?"

I got my answer as three more sentinels attacked me. This time, I was too busy dodging to get in any hits.

_Hmm,_ I thought, _this is gonna be a challenge._

_ _

Then I realized they had to be tracking me, somehow. I jumped and landed between two of them.

They shot toward me, and thus toward one another. I dodged at the last second.

CRASH!

The last one grabbed my arms and lifted me while I was distracted. Having no other choice, I head butted it.

The neck, it seemed, was it's weak point. Its head flew backward and it dropped me.

I shook my head to clear it as the next wave of sentinels came after me, but I knew it would take me a second to be ready, so I just shot a wave of fire at them.

That worked well.

After about an hour of fighting sentinels (and what a long, _looong_ hour it was), the professor came over the intercom again.

"Care to try a live opponent?"

"Sure." The sentinels were starting to get old.

The entrance opened again, and Logan strode in. A part of me knew that this was going to be a good fight.

Logan shot toward me, fists clenched. I dodged his first punch and blocked his second. We were going full out in a matter of seconds.

I noticed three things as we fought.

One, I noticed that he wasn't holding back, despite the fact that I was a beginner. He seemed to realize how long I had been fighting, and I had to respect that. Two, his style of fighting was almost exactly like mine. I kept feeling odd when I'd notice his stance was just like mine.

Three, we were able to read one another flawlessly.

When someone threw a punch, the other knew what it was going to be, how to avoid it, what it was going to open up, and where to throw their next punch. Even our similarity in style didn't explain it.

In fact, the fight probably would've gone on for quite a while, rather than fifteen minutes, if Logan hadn't happened to throw a punch into my shoulder, spinning me around and giving me the momentum to get a good kick off into his jaw.

This lead to Logan lying on the floor looking dazed, and me hopping around on one foot, saying "OW! Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow."

Once we were back in the control room, Professor Xavier had closed his mouth so firmly in order to keep from laughing, I was afraid he'd never be able to open it again.

Rouge was just flat out laughing. She commented several times, then and after, that she had been unable to breath or stand up straight, and that she couldn't stop crying.

"Hardy har har." I said pointedly. Then I turned to Logan. "What the hell _was_ that?"__

Logan quickly described the whole admantium situation.

"Ah. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to have a shower and change." The professor nodded, and I grabbed my clothing from the other room, and went to change.

Of course, when you are sweaty and tired, mathematics has proven that you will run into someone you don't want to see you at the moment.

So, anyway, I was running up the bedroom stairs, trying to get the last traces of adrenaline out of my system, when I saw _her_.

She was definitely cute.

"H-hi," I said.

She gave me a surprised look. "Oh. Hi. You, like, new to the Institute?"

"Ye-yeah, that's right. Um… oh, right! My name's Leo."

"Hi. I'm Kitty."

"Hi."

Kitty smiled at me. I almost passed out. "So, like, what are your powers anyway?"

"Er… fire. I can control it I mean."

"Oh. That's gotta be like totally useful." She sniffed the air. "You just, like, get out of the Danger Room?"

Damn it! "Yeah. I was just going to go take a shower."

"Okay." And she left.

After cursing the Danger Room and the gods of fate, I finally managed to get in the shower. After a half-hour in the shower, and another hour with a hairdryer (oh, the many curses of fur!), I strode downstairs, not really sure what to do. My patterns of life had been thrown completely off.

Luckily, I ran into Rouge.

"Hey, Leo," she said, "Ah've been lookin' all over for ya."

"Hey Rouge." I wasn't upset about the Danger Room incident anymore, and had simply filed it away for future reference. "What's up?"

"Ah still have to introduce ya to the rest of the household. Ya met Jean, Scott, Logan, and the Professor…"

"And Kitty."

"And Kitty. Okay. Ororo should be fixin' dinner right now, so ya can meet her next. Then we'll find Evan and Kurt, my brother."

We walked calmly to the kitchen, where there was a tall African-American woman with white hair, stirring something cooking over the stove.

"Hey, Ororo," Rouge said. "I'm takin' around the new guy. This is Leo."

Ororo turned and gave me a warm smile. "Hello, Leo."

"Hi," I said.

"You wouldn't happen to know where Evan and Kurt are, would you?"

"I believe Kurt is in his room, listening to music. Evan is setting the table for dinner."

"Thanks." And we headed toward the dining room.

"By the way," I said, "when is dinner and so on, anyway?"

"Dinner is at six." I glanced at my watch. 5:45. "Breakfast is at seven, and lunch is at noon. We eat all of our meals in the dining room. Speaking of which…" she walked into said dining room.

Evan was a blonde African-American, setting an armful of glasses at the table. He happened to drop a glass at that exact moment. I caught it quickly.

"Thanks, man. Auntie O. would've killed me if I'd broken anything," Evan said. He glanced at me and said, "You must be Leo."

"How'd you know?"

"Oh, Kitty mentioned you earlier."

"Really." YES! YES! HAHAHAHA! "What'd she say?"

"Err," Even blushed. "She said you needed a shower."

"Oh." Life is emptiness.

Rouge laughed quietly. "C'mon, let's go meet Kurt."

I headed upstairs, to meet the last member of the X-men.


	5. Five

I followed Rouge as she walked to a door down the right hallway and knocked

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I followed Rogue as she walked to a door down the right hallway and knocked.

"Ja?" came from the inside. I reeled.

"Isn't that German?"

"Yeah. Kurt's German. So?"

"I thought he was your brother."

"Err… long story."

Rogue opened the door to Kurt's bedroom. "Kurt, there's a new mutant here at the Institute."

"Danke, Rogue. I'll be right down."

"Don't bother. He's right here."

"_Vhat?_ Rogue!"

"Kurt, he's not gonna think you look weird." She glared at me. "Right?"

"Er… right. Of course not."

Rogue smiled and stepped back, clearing my path. I shrugged and went in.

Kurt was not expecting me. He yelped loudly.

I grinned. "Hey, Kurt. Nice to meet you."

Kurt was fuzzy and blue, with a spaded tail.

"Err, hi, um… vhat vas your name again?"

"Leo."

"Hi, Leo." Then he laughed. "Finally, somevon who looks halfvay _normal!_"

I chuckled at that. "Yeah, well…"

Rogue smiled at the two of us. "You guys have fun now" she said, before taking off.

At this point, though, the flaw in the whole Leo 'n' Kurt as friends thing came to light.

We had absolutely _nothing_ to talk about.

We sat there awkwardly looking at one another for a while, both trying to decide if we should try to start a conversation. Whereupon we both started at the same time.

"So, how…" Kurt started.

"What's your…" I said.

Kurt smiled. "You first."

I just couldn't help myself. "Oh, no, after _you_."

Kurt chuckled. "Nien nien nien. After _you."_

I pulled back. "How did you do that?"

"Vhat?"

"I'm _never_ the type who makes little odd comments like that."

"Ja, vell, I'm just so easygoing you can't help yourself."

"Yeah, well, anyway, what's your and Rogue's story? You're German and she definitely isn't."

Another long story. Watch the damn _show_, people.

"Oh. Your turn."

"So, how do you like it here so far?"

I smiled. "As opposed to the streets?"

"Ja, I hear you. But, vell, how do you like the people?"

"In order of appearance… Jean seems nice. Scott needs to learn how to drive…"

Kurt burst out laughing.

"…But all in all he's all right. Logan seems… kind of distant, though I can't really blame him, and we did have a really good conversation."

"Vith _Logan_?"

"Rogue is great. A good mix of humor and cynicism."

"Ja, you got _zat_ right."

"Kitty… is very cute, actually."

"VHAT?"

I glanced at him. "Something wrong?"

"Ja. Kitty and I…"

"You guys are dating? Damn, man, I'm sorry."

"Vell, no, but I've kind of got a crush on her."

"Oh." I wasn't quite sure what to do with that. "Why don't you ask her out?"

"I don't zink she likes me back."

"Wait a minute. You're telling me to back off of a girl who has no interest in you?" This annoyed me.

"She might!"

"So ask her out!"

"It's more complicated than you zink! If I ask her out, ve can't just be friends anymore."

"So? All things considered, do you have a shot in hell? It's not that hard."

"Ja, I have a chance."

"So go for it!"

"It's not zat big a chance."

"Big enough to risk it?"

Kurt froze. "I… I don't know."

"Then it's decision time."

Kurt lost his temper. "Vhoud you just shut _up?!"_

"Look, it's simple. Either you take a shot or you don't. All this waiting around is just going to make things more dif…"

Kurt surprised me by nailing me in the face. I staggered backwards slightly.

"Don't tell me vhat to do! You've known me and Kitty for half a day!"

I jumped up, fists at the ready. That was when Rogue walked in.

"Dinner's ready… what are you guys doin'"

"Nothing," I snarled, releasing my fists.

"Ja," said Kurt. We glared at one another.

"Okay…" Rogue sounded unconvinced. "Anyway, dinner's ready. The professor asked me to tell ya."

"Thanks." My eyes didn't leave Kurt.

"Danke." His eyes didn't leave me.

We slowly walked downstairs, glaring at one another the whole way.

It was going to be an interesting meal. That was for damned sure.


	6. Six

Rogue dropped into a seat at the dining room table

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Rogue dropped into a seat at the dining room table. Kurt sat down next to her. I considered sitting on her other side, but Logan sat down on the other side of the table right then, so I dropped into a seat next to him. He looked vaguely startled, but then relaxed.

Kitty came in a few seconds later, glanced around the table, and put her hand on the empty seat next to Kurt.

"Like, can I sit here?"

Kurt looked surprised. "Vhy not?" He shot a smug look at me, and I glared at him.

Rogue flagged down Scott and began murmuring to him quickly. Scott threw a surprised look in my and then Kurt's direction, then went back to listening to Rogue.

After a while, everyone was seated at the table, and Professor Xavier started the conversation.

"Have you been thinking about a code name yet, Leo?"

I jerked in my seat. "I'm sorry?"

"Most of us have code names for when we're training or fighting," Scott explained.

"Oh, well, I don't know. I have the ability to create fire, so… Pyro, maybe?"

"Zat's not very original." Kurt said. Subtle jerk, you had to be looking for it to tell that he was mocking me.

Two could play that game.

"Oh, really. Have any suggestions?"

"Vell, you look like a 'Tiger Eye'.

"No thank you! I've been mocked all my life for being cat-like. I'll stick with fire."

Rogue was elbowing Scott, who looked shocked.

The professor tried again. "Well, Leo, we are trying to get you enrolled in the local high school. Do you know what grade you might be in?"

"I'm sixteen. A sophomore."

"Oh really. Kurt is also a sophomore."

Scott and Rogue started making signs of _no, stop, _and so on. I ignored them.

"That's just great. Good to know I'll have _friend_ in my classes, maybe." Rogue, Kurt, Scott, and, to my surprise, Logan, were the only ones who caught the sarcasm. Logan was looking from me to Kurt and back, wondering what was going on.

Conversation had already pretty much dried up, and for a few minutes, we ate in silence. Logan suddenly chimed in with, "So, given any thought to my suggestion earlier?"

I gave him my half-smirk. "What's to think about? It makes too much sense to ignore. The only questions are, where do I get the part, when, and how."

"What are ya guys talkin' about?" Rogue chimed in.

"Junior here…" Logan pointed at me, "has been building a bike from the ground up for the last two years."

"Really?" asked Jean, sounding impressed.

"Well, yeah."

Rogue leaned across the table. "What type of bike is it?"

"It's a Harley and a Yamaha. I call it the Harlaha."

Kurt laughed. "Vhat kind of a name is _zat_?"

I started to reply angrily, but then realized that the whole point of this topic was that I'd be talking about something I cared about and wouldn't insult Kurt, and Kurt would see that everyone was impressed, and not insult me. Obviously, Logan was better at this than I thought. For some reason, I decided to let him have his way.

"Actually, a friend thought it up." I said peaceably.

"You built the _entire thing?!_" Kitty said while sounding impressed.

"Yeah." I took a bite of my dinner.

Kitty grinned. "I like a guy who can work with his hands."

I promptly choked and started coughing. Logan hit me on the back a few times.

Luckily, Logan's suggestion set off everyone and we were all making small talk for the rest of the meal. Well, all except Logan. Once we were all talking, he quickly dropped out of the conversation, and nobody's attempts to pull him back in were working.

"I still don't understand why you two remind me of one another so much," Scott told me.

"_I _still don't understand why you don't just drop it. It's all in your head," I replied.

"Yeah, well, maybe the fur-no fur thing makes sense, but why do you and Logan look so much alike?"

"Simple. We do share some qualities, like eyes and chin. And your subconscious is rationalizing noticing that I looked familiar earlier."

Scott looked surprised. "How do you know all this stuff?"

"The woman who home schooled me was a retired psychiatrist. I also got my extensive vocabulary from her."

"Extensive?"

"Okay, that was on purpose." I admitted.

"Hey," Kitty said, "what do you look like with your hologram on?"

I flipped on my "watch" quickly. Kitty's eyes bulged.

"Wow! I didn't think you'd be like so totally cute."

I fell out of my chair. It wasn't that I wasn't enjoying it, but too many more compliments from this girl would be the end for me. Once I had regained my position in my chair, I shot a smug look at Kurt.

Kitty, meanwhile, had gotten Rogue's and Jean's attention. She asked them "Don't you think Leo looks cute?"

Jean was startled. "I- I guess so."

Rogue quickly said, "Ah like him with the fur." Then she blushed.

Me being an idiot, I didn't know why. "Thanks, Rogue." And I smiled at her.

She blushed hotly and asked to be excused.

After that, I got into a lengthy discussion about school with Evan and Jean, and finally decided to call it a night. I hadn't had a chance to rest after the Danger Room, and I was exhausted.

Not that it mattered.

Time on the streets had trained me to fall asleep at two a.m. and waking up at six. One night in a nice house was not going to change that.

So, once I had gotten bored of staring at the ceiling, at around eleven-thirty, I decided to go around the house, and see how well I had learned the general layout.

I had managed to find everything and was heading upstairs to try to get some sleep (fat chance, it was still one in the morning), when I heard a soft yell coming from the left hall.

I quickly headed toward the room that I thought the yell had come from. Opening the door, I saw Rogue, sitting on the side of her bed, crying.

Needless to say, I was a little startled. But I quickly stepped forward, grabbed a blanket, and threw it over Rogue's shoulders. Then I hugged her, letting her sob into my chest.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"It was _horrible,_" she hiccupped.

"Tell me about it." I said, trying to sound soothing.

Rogue sniffed. "Ah… Ah don't know if Ah can.

"Just try. If you can't, then I'll understand."

She nodded into my chest. I felt it, rather than saw it.

"When Ah touch someone, Ah don't just steal their powers. Ah also steal their thoughts. Ah'm in my head, sorta, and I have all these thoughts bouncin' around, like ah've touched a lot of people."

She looked up at me. I nodded. "Go on, if you can."

"Ah just feel so shut out, like Ah can't think or nothin'. And then, Ah... loose myself. Ah die."

I felt cold. I _hate_ death dreams.

Suddenly, Rogue pulled away from me. "Ya must think Ah'm such a wimp, Leo."

"Because you had a nightmare?"

"No, because Ah cried." She looked ashamed, which annoyed me.

"Look, Rogue, everyone cries because of nightmares."

"Oh, really? Have ya ever cried because of a nightmare?"

"Actually, I have."

She looked shocked. "Ya have?"

"Yeah. Building the Harlaha was actually not my idea. It was a friend's."

Now _she_ was the one to prompt _me_. "Go on."

"This friend was an orphan, like me, but for different reasons. He didn't care if someone was a mutant or not. He was a good guy. We were both fourteen, and we became friends."

I paused to take a breath. Talking about him was hell.

"He was the one with the dream to build a motorcycle from two old wrecks he'd found. I was the one who didn't believe anything would change when we got out of Seattle. The realistic one."

"Anyway, he had set up some things in an abandoned garage not far from where we stayed. He was going to the garage to do the first actual work on the bike, when he ran into the Darks, a street gang in the area."

"One of the gang recognized him as a friend of mine. And this was a very anti-mutant gang. They asked him if it was true, and he didn't deny it. So they shot him. In cold blood. I had nightmares for a full year. I kept on working on the bike, though. That was his dream, and I knew that as long as that bike was being worked on, he would still kind of have a place somewhere."

Rogue looked shaken. Without speaking, she wrapped her arms around me. We sat there, holding one another, until we fell asleep.


	7. Seven

Knock knock knock

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_Knock knock knock._

I opened one eye to glare at the door.Then both of my eyes shot open.

"Rogue," I hissed, "wake up."

Because, sure enough, I was in Rogue's room, Rogue curled up in a blanket in my arms.

"Gmaminotoo," she said sleepily.

"Rogue, _wake up_," I hissed urgently.

Rogue opened her eyes. "Wha… oh, no."

_Knock knock knock._

"Rogue, you up?" Logan.

"Yeah, I'm up," she shouted quickly. Logan moved on to another room.

"What do we do?" I asked desperately.

Rogue looked embarrassed, but then relaxed. "Just go. If anyone sees you, tell 'em what happened."

"Good idea. Think they'll believe it?"

"Ah hope so."

I nodded. Then I walked to the door and opened it calmly, and strode outside. I had to resist running full out down the hall, since that would _not_ help convince the others. For once in my life, luck was on my side, and I didn't run into anyone else. I glanced to my alarm clock, and was surprised to see that I had slept till six-thirty. I _never_ sleep that late.

I gave a huge sigh and went to take a shower.

An hour later (I was getting better), I calmly stumbled downstairs and winced when I saw the eating frenzy in the dining room.

"Sorry I'm late," I said as I joined the others. Everyone but Rogue looked startled to see me.

"You're up early," Scott informed me.

"Actually, I'm later than I usually am."

Scott digested this information, and his breakfast. Kurt gave me a halfhearted glare, and went back to eating.

I grabbed the empty seat at the table, which happened to be between Logan and Kitty (my luck from earlier was holding), and fell to.

About five minutes later, half the people at the table were staring at me as I quickly put away my breakfast. I'm _always_ hungry during the mornings, and this stuff was _great._

"My compliments to the chef," I said between bites.

"…Thank you," Ororo said, eyebrow raised.

"Do you always eat like this, Junior?" Logan inquired.

"Only during the…" big bite, chew, swallow, "…mornings. Is today a school day? I've lost track."

"No," chimed in Kitty. "Today's Saturday."

"We were going to let you sleep in today," the Professor told me, "but since you're up already, are you going to need anything?"

"As in today, or as in during my stay at the Institute?"

"Your full stay."

I suddenly chuckled. "I… left all of my clothing in Seattle."

"That's, like, right up my alley." Kitty said.

"That's true Kitty. Leo, would it be all right if Kitty took you shopping. Logan can take you both."

For one insane second I almost told the professor that all I needed was directions to the closest clothing store and some money, when it hit me.

Kitty picking my clothes. Kitty liking the way I looked in said clothes.

"Great!" I said, a little too enthusiastically. Kurt, who had apparently figured out the same thing I had, glared at me.

"Good. You three can go after breakfast."

I fell to again, but then stopped. "Professor, how are you going to get me enrolled? I don't have a birth certificate."

Professor Xavier chuckled. "I have my ways."

Logan took a sniff, and then his head whipped from me, to Rogue, to me again. We both blushed hotly.

Scott turned to me. "Are you one of those 'early to bed, early to rise' types?"

"What?"

"Earlier, you said you had slept late."

"No, I'm one of those "late to bed, early to rise, my life depends on it' types."

"Your life doesn't depend on it."

"For sixteen years it has."

"Didn't you go to bed right after dinner, though?"

"Well, I was resting." I glared at him. "Despite what Hollywood seems to think, sliding underneath a semi at fifty miles an hour on a motorcycle is not an easy task."

Logan snorted. "This on top of the 'three-sixty stunt'?"

"Actually, they were the same thing."

"What happened?" Rogue asked incredulously.

"Ask tire boy here," both Jean and I said together. During this entire conversation, Scott had gone thirty different shades of red. Going for forty, I smiled wistfully. "That old lady was _furious_."

I got forty. Jean got a severe case of the giggles and had to leave for a few moments. I calmly pushed back my chair, and looked at Logan and Kitty. "You two done?"

"You bet!" Kitty said cheerfully. Logan nodded calmly. And we were off.

A half-hour later, Kitty was dragging me around the small Bayville mall, Logan trailing behind.

"What about this?" Kitty asked me, handing me a long sleeved button-up shirt.

"I was looking for something a little more casual."

"Oh, okay. If you want it casual… put it on. But don't, like, button it or anything."

I pulled it on. Kitty started to mess with the collar, causing my heart to try gymnastics.

"There! Now, you're from the street, so that'll be your mannerism. So, you'll want to, like, keep it like this."

Kitty had grabbed the collar of this shirt and pulled me to her. There was no way I'd _ever_ mess with the collar again. She studied me carefully.

"This is a mix of hunter green and sky blue, so we'll go for dark blue jeans and a lime shirt."

After an hour of this, I was starting to consider yelling "Okay! Clothes are clothes! Can we go now?" Luckily, Kitty stopped there.

"Okay, I think we have enough of everything, now." Enough to what? Were we going to sell the clothes, and use the money to feed an army? "Now all you need is a jacket."

I breathed a sigh of relief for the words "_a_ jacket". Luckily, I found a nice, warm, fleece jacket with tan leather right off the bat, so there was minimum fuss. On the way out, though, Logan pulled me aside.

"Why do you smell like Rogue?"

"Say what?"

"You smell like Rogue."

"Is that a _bad_ thing?"

"Be serious, Junior. You guys haven't…"

"What?" Then I got it. "WHAT?! No!"

"Just checkin', kid."

"Is that even _possible?_"

"Well, you are both teenagers. If you used your imaginations and your hormones together, perhaps…"

"Yeah, thanks for the images, Wolfie."

"Which brings us back to my first question. Why do you smell like Rogue?"

I told him the whole thing.

"Hmm, interesting." Logan said when I was finished.

"Try not to mention it to anyone. Rogue might not mind if someone knew, but I'm sure she'd rather they didn't."

"Course, Junior. Secret's safe with me."

"Thanks." By this point we had managed to reach the car. However, when we had packed everything into the trunk and back seat, there was no room for anyone to sit except for the front two seats. Logan, however, had the solution, which made me wonder if he had figured out my crush on Kitty.

"Junior, sit in the passenger side. Half-pint, sit in Junior's lap."

Then he smirked at me. Oh, he had figured it out.

He didn't stop there. No, he just _had_ to make lots of sudden starts and stops, so Kitty would have to put her arms around my neck. By the time we got to the mansion, I was shaking like a leaf.

Logan let us off in front of the mansion. "You guys can go in," he said, smirking, "unless Junior here can't stand up."

I could, though just barely. With a low growl, which I knew he could hear because of his hearing, I grabbed several of the bags and headed for the front door, to put away my new _outfits_.


	8. 

After going back and forth from the garage about ten times carrying bags of clothing, it occurred to me that I had been wearin

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After going back and forth from the garage about ten times carrying bags of clothing, it occurred to me that I had been wearing the same thing for the past four days ago. So, I grabbed some clothes, laid them out, and went to take another shower.

Forty-five minutes later, I was dry and clean, when it occurred to me that I had left my clothing on the bed, and that my bedroom door was standing open. I cursed, grabbed a towel, and went out to get them.

Rogue was in my room.

She spun around when I came out of the bathroom. Now, you have to remember that I was wearing nothing but a towel. We were both shocked.

"Leo!" she said breathlessly, "Ah… ah've been looking for ya everywhere. Ah…" She trailed off.Then she whimpered, "Ah… ah'm sorry, Leo," before running out of the room. 

Why would she run out?

Unless… could she have a crush on me? Oh, that was bad.

The answer came in the form of one of those little voices that speaks the truth that no one wants to listen to. _Would that be so bad?_

"Yes! A friend having a crush on me just makes things difficult!"

Oh, really. What about when you were comforting her last night? I'll bet you weren't thinking of her as a "friend" then.

"I… shut up."

Evan, as luck would have it, had been walking down the hall when Rogue ran out. He leaned into my doorway.

"What's up with Rogue?" he asked, before he, too, realized I was wearing a towel and nothing else. I was getting a little fed up.

"OUT!"

"But what…"

"I SAID OUT!"

Evan got out. I slammed the door behind him, got dressed quickly, and prepared to search the mansion for Logan.

Now, I was sure that most of the students considered the professor their father, and I did have lots of respect for him in that area. But Logan and I had clicked right away. He was surprisingly easy to talk to, considering that the other students thought of him as quiet and detached. I didn't exactly think of him as a father figure, but I was getting pretty damn near to it.

Anyway, I had no idea what was going on. Well, that's not totally true…

_"I do believe Rogue wants more than friendship. And are you really sure you would mind that yourself?"_

_ _

"Shut up." I muttered. Kurt just happened to be passing me in the hall I was in.

"But I didn't even say anyzing!"

"I wasn't talking to you, Kurt."

"Ja? Then vho vere you talking to?"

I didn't want to get into it with Kurt, not right then. I hurried passed him.

I glanced at my watch. Three thirty. Perfect. Logan was probably in the Danger room, finishing up his session in there. For a second I wondered why I knew, but shook it off. I had probably just heard him mention it to someone else.

Logan was, as I had thought, in the Danger Room, talking to the professor about how well he had done. Both looked up as I entered.

"Logan, can I talk to you later?" I said quickly, before I could lose my nerve.

Logan shrugged. "Sure, Junior. Garage at five?"

"I'll be there."

I took off, glad it had been that simple.

After that, though, I had no idea what to do with myself. In desperation, I went to the rec room, lied on a couch, and stared at the ceiling.

I was so preoccupied, I didn't notice that Kitty was there.

"Is there, like, something wrong, Leo?"

I sat up quickly. "N-no, nothing."

She looked concerned as she walked over to where I was sitting… and put a hand on my knee. I almost died of a heart attack.

"Are you sure?" she asked quietly.

What could I say? I could imagine that conversation. No. I am not sure of anything right now. I am having trouble breathing because your hand is on my knee, but fifteen minutes ago I had just realized that Rogue had a crush on me, and I might well have one on her.

"I'm just fine," I said desperately. Suddenly it occurred to me that Rogue was not looking for me for that reason, which meant I'd have to go talk to her to find out what she had needed. Damn. Damn damn damn damn damn.

"I… I have to take care of something." I ran like hell.

A few minutes later, I was standing outside Rogue's bedroom door, trying to get the nerve to knock. Finally, I did.

"Hang on. Ah'm comin'," came from inside the room. I had to resist bolting.

Rogue opened the door to her bedroom and was surprised to see me. She blushed. "What do ya need, Leo?"

"Er, why were you in my room when… you… left. Why were you looking for me?"

"The professor asked me to tell ya that you start school a week from Monday."

"Oh. Thanks." She turned to go back into her room, but she stopped me. "Leo, Ah… Ah'm sorry about that. Ah don't know what came over me." She stepped back slightly. "Ya wanna come in."

I hesitated, then stepped in.

We sat awkwardly next to one another for a few minutes, until finally I started. "Is this just a little thing, or is this bigger?"

Rogue shrugged. "Ah don't know."

"So, lets not make a big deal about this, until we know what's going on."

"Yeah. That sounds like a good idea. Ah… Ah need to be alone right now. Still friends?" 

"Of course." I glanced into her eyes, and was caught instantly. She had such nice eyes…

"Whoa!" I pulled back. "I… really have to go."

I hurried from Rogue's room. It was Jean's turn to be nearly run over. Her eyebrow rose, but she didn't comment.

I checked my watch as I ran, hoping I would have an excuse to go to the garage and avoid all members of the opposite sex for a while. No such luck. It was only four. I considered trying to find someone to talk to and totally forget what was going on at the moment. But, well, Kitty and Rogue were right out, Kurt hated me at the moment, and Jean and Evan, while not quite sure what was going on, would undoubtedly ask.

So, in desperation, I went to the garage and started to fiddle with the Harlaha. I polished, tuned, and studied the thing, but no matter what I did, I couldn't get my mind off Kitty and Rogue.

Finally, Logan showed up. "Bit early, ain't ya, Junior?"

I jumped. "I just had to get out of the mansion."

"Yeah, well, there's a reason I asked you to meet out here." He handed me a short hookup. "For the transmission."

I stared at it. "Logan, you're a saint."

"Yeah, well, don't be tellin' anyone. I got a reputation to protect. Now what did you want to talk about?" He sniffed and smiled. "This have anything ta do with Rogue's 'nightmares'?"

I blushed. Then I told him the whole story.

"…And I really think Rogue is more of a has a crush on me. And I don't know how I feel about her. But I still have a crush on Kitty. And I don't have any idea what to do about it!"

I trailed off and gave him a desperate look. He smirked.

"How do you feel about her?"

"Like I said, I don't know. I used to think of her as a good friend, but now…"

"It's hard to help someone with things like this." He looked thoughtful. "My advice would be to avoid being around either of them alone until you've figured out your feelings. Rogue'll understand, and Kitty will get over it. If you can't seem to avoid them, come get me, and I'll give you safe haven for a while."

I gave a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Logan."

That was a major turning point for my life at the mansion.

That was the first time I actually thought of Logan as a father.


	9. 

A week passed with very few incidents, which was good

Disclaimer: I did own X-men Evolution, but Marvel stole 'em. NO! I'M JUST KIDDING! AAARGH! (K is dragged off by lawyers) 

**Okay, but seriously. This is my fic. Read it. Enjoy it. And hey, if the mood strikes you, just send a _little_ review. Please?**

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A week passed with very few incidents, which was good. I didn't know how many more things I could handle before my heart gave out. I avoided Rogue and Kitty like the plague, though it meant I had to take Logan up on his offer for safe haven more than once. During meals, without fail I found myself between Logan and Scott, who told me that Logan had asked him to sit there, without saying why.

I had all kinds of respect for Logan that week.

I hadn't had any breakthroughs with the Kitty and Rogue problem. I still got shivers when either walked into the room.

Kurt and I were still fighting like cats and dogs. We were still being subtle about it, which meant that Logan, Rogue, Scott, and now Jean (she's psychic and she's dating Scott. It was only a matter of time) were the only ones that knew.

I hadn't woken up late since the first night I had stayed there, and it didn't make sense. I still couldn't figure out why I hadn't woken up. This meant that I'd wake up, take a shower (I had managed to cut the whole process down to thirty minutes), and be coming out while Logan was making rounds. This gave me a lot of extra time in the mornings, but I had so much on my mind I didn't care. It was a quiet time to think.

I woke up at six on the dot one morning, and glanced around, trying to think what had me so concerned. Early mornings, I think in emotion and nothing else, which is annoying as hell, I can tell you.

Ah, yes. Monday. School.

I climbed out of bed, and went to take a shower. By the foot of the bed was a backpack filled with books, and a note on top.

_Leo,_

_Here are all of your books for your courses._

_Your class schedule is in the smaller pocket._

_Prof. X._

I flipped open the smaller pocket, and pulled out a piece of paper. Hmm.

_8:00-8:47 Health_

_8:53-9:37 Track & Field_

_9:43-10:27 Biology_

_10:33-11:17 History_

_11:20-12:10 Lunch_

_12:13-12:57 Geometry_

_1:03-1:47 Word Processing_

_1:53-2:37 Shop_

_2:43-3:30 Advanced Soph. English_

I quickly memorized it and returned it to my bag. Then I headed to the shower.

Thirty minutes later I had showered, dried off, and gotten dressed. I studied myself in the mirror. I had to admit, Kitty really knew how to dress someone. It occurred to me that I had never studied my holo-self in the mirror. I had short, orange hair slightly darker than my real fur, and my features were more defined. Of course that was probably because my fur wasn't obscuring everything.

I also owed Scott an apology. I _did_ look like Logan. Not to the point where you start to wonder if you're in the Twilight Zone, but there were plenty of similarities.

I opened the door to my room, so Logan would know I'd woken up. Then I fell onto my bed and started to read my Biology book.

A few minutes later, said Logan glanced into my room. "What're you doin', Junior?"

"Studying. I'm gonna be pretty behind when I show up, so I might as well get to work in catching up."

"Good thinking. Any reason why Biology?"

"Yeah, it's in the morning." I grimaced. "Also, it's hell and I want to get it over with."

Logan chuckled and took off. I studied for another few minutes, and then slammed the book shut and headed downstairs, books slung over my shoulder.

I instantly ran into Ororo, who looked surprised to see me (I still had my watch on), but gave me a motherly smile.

"Good morning, Leo. Sleep well?"

"Yeah. Morning."

"First day of school. How do you feel?"

"Just fine. It's gonna be hard to get used to so many people, though, and I feel sort of apocalyptic, but that's probably just nerves."

"Apocalyptic?" It seemed to ring a few bells, but then she shook her head. "What do you mean?"

"I feel like something bad is going to happen. But, again, it's probably just nerves."

It wasn't just nerves. But we'll get back to that later.

"Would you mind setting the table? You have plenty of time to get ready."

I chuckled. "I'm pretty much ready, anyway, so it's not a problem."

We had an interesting breakfast. I wolfed down everything that I could at first, but after everyone asked in their own way if I was nervous, well, I got nervous, and started poking at my food… which prompted everyone to ask if I was _sure_ I wasn't nervous.

So, yes, when Scott drove everyone to school, I was _very_ nervous.

I managed to find all my classes for future reference, and still make it to first hour in time. I was pretty proud of that… for about a second.

"We've got two new students coming to our class, M.L. Akins and Leo Lyons. Could you two come up here please?"

For a second, I couldn't figure out where I knew the other kid from, before it connected.

M.L. Akins.

_May_ Akins.

Nooooooo!

I walked jerkily up to the front of the classroom, M.L. trailing behind. We were introduced to the class, M.L. looking smug, me blushing and looking awkward.

If that had been it, I could've handled it. No big deal. As it was, that was only the beginning. I stumbled into the lunchroom, feeling very put upon. I had been brought to the front of the classroom in every class, and I was beginning to feel like a zoo animal. I dropped into a seat with everyone else from the institute.

"Is something wrong?" Scott asked me.

Wordlessly, I handed him my schedule, which I had made some editions to.

8:00-8:47 Health, May 

_8:53-9:37 Track and Field, Pietro, Fred_

_9:43-10:27 Biology, May, Todd_

_10:33-11:17 History, Lance_

_11:20-12:10 Lunch, Should be obvious_

_12:13-12:57 Geometry, May, Todd, Lance_

_1:03-1:47 Word Processing, Fred, Todd_

_1:53-2:37 Shop, May, Pietro, Fred_

_2:43-3:30 Advanced Soph. English, None, 'bout damn time_

_ _

Scott gave me a surprised look. "What's this?"

"This," I growled, "is the list of the members of the Brotherhood that are in my classes. Have I mentioned my life is hell?" I glanced around. "Where's Rogue?"

Kitty shrugged. "Like, who cares?"

I was a little startled by her attitude, but I was definitely getting apocalyptic feelings about Rogue, so I went on the prowl to find her.

I finally did, which was a very good thing.

May had Rouge leaning against the wall, hands on both sides of her head. Rogue looked slightly nervous and very pissed.

"Get outta my way," she said angrily. May didn't budge.

"Back off, _May_," I said.

He spun in surprise and glared at me. "Leo."

Rogue quickly walked around me and stood behind me and to my left. She laid her hand on my shoulder. "Thanks, Leo."

I blushed slightly, then turned to face May. "Leave her alone."

May sneered. "And what're you gonna do if I don't?" he asked as he began to walk over to Rogue. I shoved him backward a few feet.

"Anything I have to."

It would've definitely turned into a fight if Kurt hadn't shown up. Through unspoken agreement, he stepped next to me and got ready.

May smirked. "Need help from your friend to take me, I see."

I was raised on the street. No one, and that means _no one,_ can out-tough me.

"Nah, I just don't want to waste my time," I said cockily. Kurt smirked. May looked furious. "Beat it, if you know what's good for you."

A few guys cheered. I realized we were gathering a crowd.

I quickly decided to get out of there before the crowd began to include faculty. "He's not worth the time. Let's get outta here."

I'd lose points for backing away, unless I had played May right. I spun around, and started walking away.

May shot at me, angrily, while I was turned around. Which was what I wanted. I spun and buried a fist in his stomach, then turned and began walking again, like nothing had happened. He tried again. I nailed him on the jaw. He went down hard. Perfectly played. Now I looked like the cool, collected kid who was, nonetheless, strong, and "M.L." looked like a hotheaded idiot.

Hell, both Kurt and Rogue were pretty impressed. Kurt looked jealous, and Rogue repeated the entire thing to everyone else, who were also pretty impressed. Kitty managed to drive me nuts by going on and on about how it was brave of me, but I was going to get in so much trouble…

Actually, by some miracle, trouble missed me. I was on cloud nine.

The day flew by, with only one major glitch. As it turned out, Advanced Sophomore English, or ASoE, as the students called it, was a major writing class. My first assignment; write about someone who is very important to you. Pretty sappy, if you ask me.

Hmm. Rogue or Kitty? Rogue. Kitty. Rogue. Kitty. Rouge. Kitty.

I know! I'll write whichever comes up when the bell rings.

RogueKittyRogueKittyRogueKittyRogueKittyRo-

"Mister Lyons."

"Yes?"

"If you would like some extra credit, then you can write about yourself and read it in front of the class."

Oh, yeah. I'm going to tell them about my past as a homeless mutant. Sounds good! Note the sarcasm in my voice.

"Thank you, but I'll pa…"

BRRINGG

Noooooo!


	10. Ten

After everyone was back at the mansion, they all asked me how my day went

**Disclaimer: YES! _I_ own X-men evolution. Let's see what you can do about_ that_, Marvel! Neener-neener-neener! Well, not really… but I can dream, right? Right?**

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**Is _anyone_ reading this? Hello? Please review; I have no idea if anyone is enjoying this at all. Even if you only say, "It was good," or, "It was okay," or "Get the hell off of Fanfiction.net, you bum!"**

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After everyone was back at the mansion, they all asked me how my day went. Yes, _All_.

"Did you guys get this much attention on your first school day here?"

"Well… yeah," Scott said slowly.

"How did you like that?"

That ended the questions.

I sighed. "Excuse me," I said, "I have homework to do."

RogueKittyRogueKittyRogueKitty.

Oh, to hell with it.

_Logan is someone who is very important to me, _I wrote. _He's a lot like me, so he can almost always tell when something is bothering me, and he normally knows what to do about it. He's actually like the father I never had. Professor Xavier did bring me in, and I'll always be grateful for that, but Logan and I just click. No matter what's going on, he's able to listen to my problems. Also, we share the same interests, so I really enjoy his company._ I paused and tried to remember how long this was supposed to be. Ah, yes. Ten sentences. _Logan understands that sometimes subtlety is the best answer. If he thinks something is going to bother me, he doesn't talk about it, just takes care of it, if he can. On the other hand, he's ready to poke fun at me, which helps me relax about some things. He acts gruff, but he's really a nice guy. I hope my dad was anything like him._

I was suddenly very happy I had written about Logan. I read the page again, and realized just how personal this had gotten. I couldn't help but be annoyed that teachers were paid to get kids to talk about personal things, and then count off on them for not using periods and the like. I needed to relax, so I headed down to the rec room, to watch some TV.

A half-hour later, I was headed up to my room to finish some History work I had forgotten, when I bumped into Kitty on the stairs.

"You're, like, a totally good writer, Leo."

"WHAT?!"

Needless to say, I was not happy about this revelation.

I did the idiotic thing, and left Kitty to find my paper. It was still on my bed. I was about to put it away, but then I remembered Kitty was wandering the mansion with information about said paper.

So, I took my second big mistake. I left the paper on my bed, and went to find Kitty.

I ran into an amused Jean on the stairs. She grinned and said, "So, Kitty tells me you're a great writer."

"KITTY?! KITTY, IF I FIND YOU, YOU ARE DEAD! DO YOU HEAR ME?!"

I was running down the stairs at a speed that would have me pulled over on most major highways.

Let's see. If I had some potentially painful evidence that I wanted to share, I'd go to where there were definitely people around. And Ororo was cooking at the moment…

I ran for the kitchen. Ororo smiled at me. "Can I help you, Leo?"

I nodded madly. "Has Kitty been in here lately?"

Ororo's smile widened. "I… believe she might have come this way."

My life is a living hell.

"Which way did she leave by?"

Ororo struggled to keep from laughing. She pointed at a door, and I went through it like I had been fired from a cannon.

"KITTY! DAMN YOU, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

I came to an intersection of the halls. Left, right, and forward. Another time to think. Rogue was in that direction, Logan in that, and Kurt in that one. But, Rogue was out of Kitty's good graces, and Logan would probably be saved for last. So that left…

Kurt. Damn it, damn it, damn it.

"KITTY! GET OUT HERE!" I yelled as I shot down the hallway.

I found Kurt grinning ear to ear, with Kitty talking quietly. Kurt turned and saw me.

"Vell, hello, Leo. I heard vhat a good writer you are."

Kitty was evil. Kitty was cruel. Kitty was _dead._

I pounced. Kurt ported away and Kitty phased out. I hit the opposite wall.

"AHHHH!" *THUD* "OW!"

Kitty shot down the hallway, laughing. I was right behind her.

"KITTY," I begged at the top of my lungs, "PLEASE TELL ME YOU DIDN'T TELL LOGAN!"

"Tell me what?" answered Logan's voice.

Oops. Mistake three. And, effectively, strike three.

Kitty smiled. "Leo… is a good writer."

I paused. "THAT'S _IT?!"_

She smiled. "Well, yeah. I wouldn't read your stuff without, like, asking, Leo. I just saw the paper on your bed, and said you were a good writer, and your reaction was, like, perfect. So, I've been, like, telling everyone to tell you that I said that. It was just a joke."

"Just a joke."

"Wait just a minute," said Logan, "why didn't you want me to find out about this, anyway?"

"N-no reason," I stuttered. DAMN IT!

I attempted to dash, but felt a heavy hand close on my arm.

"Let's see this _paper_."

"I-it's just homework."

Rogue decided to join the party.

"What's goin' on?"

Logan explained as much as he knew… that I had written something and then gotten furious because Kitty had pretended to try to tell everyone what it was, and that it was about him.

The next thing I knew, we were in my room. Rogue calmly picked up the paper and read through it. Then she looked at me, shocked.

"Ah… wow, Leo."

Kitty grabbed it and read it. Then she looked at me wordlessly and handed the paper to Logan, who read it.

Then he read it again.

And again.

I was embarrassed as hell, and all of the waiting around wasn't helping. Rogue and Kitty stuck around for a while, then quietly drifted out. Logan turned to me, looked me up and down, and left.

It took me a second to realize that he had taken my English homework with him. Not that it mattered. If he wanted it, let him keep it. I could always write another. Except, when I tried, I got writer's block. Perfect.

Logan walked into the room, handed the paper to me, ruffled the hair on my head, to my surprise, and left. I stared after him. Then I shoved the paper into my bag. I pledged to never let anyone but my English teacher see it.

For a long time, I sat on my bed, thinking. After which, I heard someone knock on my door.

"Come in."

Rogue slowly opened the door and walked into the room, looking shy. "Did… did ya mean all that stuff that ya wrote? About Logan?"

"Yeah. Hell, he's more of a father then anyone I've ever met. That I remember, anyway." I sighed, wondering where my own father was, if he was all right.

If he ever wondered about me. If he ever wished he hadn't given me up.

Rogue slowly sat on the bed next to me, and wrapped an arm around me. "Ah've been there. Ah know what you're goin' through. If ya ever need to talk…"

"I'll come straight to you," I promised. It occurred to me that she was holding me. I just felt… complete. I slid my own arm around her, and we just sat there for a few minutes, not speaking.

We didn't have to. It was right then that I realized that I was in love.


	11. Eleven

I woke up a little late the next morning, which surprised me

**Disclaimer: I don't own X-men Evolution. Anyone who didn't know this should probably be reading _all_ of the disclaimers.**

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**I really should have been doing this before, but I think it's time to start thanking all of my reviewers: Rina, Dione Kitane, Kell Kell, Eilonwy Angel, Fasheem, *~Chaya~* (as if you didn't see it coming), Arkanfael, LeeLee, Blitz, sparklagal, Queen of Hearts, Mistogirl/Thundercat, Morty's Girl, Slacker, (stops, takes deep breath) starlett_gurl, Daine, Crash, Leah Labadie, *~Chaya~* again, Fasheem again, Fasheem _again_… okay, that's a bit long… (Spell Check starts to read, "Error, Error") I'll get the others next chap, trust me.**

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I woke up a little late the next morning, which surprised me. Rogue, it seemed, had the effect of making me actually sleep.

I had done a lot of thinking the night before, after Rogue had gone to bed. About my relationship with Kitty. I was sure that Kitty wasn't any different then any crush. I mean, she hadn't shown any interest other than comments that could be taken as nothing. And besides, I was interested in Rogue now.

So, I was over Kitty. Man, this relationship thing wasn't as easy as it looked.

I definitely needed to apologize to Kurt.

However, in the hassle of early morning, that thought was swept aside. I double-checked to make sure I had my paper (I did, though I never knew what I'd've done if I didn't), and headed downstairs to get breakfast.

Breakfast, talk, and a ride to school. That was my morning.

School was uneventful, except for one thing, which happened during lunch.

I was standing in the lunch line, wishing the people in front of me would grab their damn lunches and hurry up, when Kitty stepped behind me into the line and said, "Like, hi, Leo."

"Hey, Kitty." I suddenly noticed that she seemed upset. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing much. I… have you heard about the dance coming up yet?"

"Dance?"

"Yeah. It's a totally big deal, costs a lot of money and everything."

"No, I hadn't. Not that it matters a lot, though. I can't go. I'm furry and everything.

"Well… I don't have a date."

"Would you like to take Kurt?" I asked. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind going, since he'd have to go with someone from the institute."

Kitty gave me a surprised look. "Kurt? Why?"

I sighed. "Never mind. No reason."

Things went back to normal for a few days. Then Thursday rolled around.

Then all hell broke loose.

The whole thing started when I was watching some movie with Scott and Jean. I felt like I was where I wasn't wanted, and destroying the romantic atmosphere, but Scott seemed annoyed whenever I tried to sneak out, saying, "It's just a movie, Leo, you can stay."

I had finally figured out a good excuse to leave, when Kurt showed up. He was furious as anything, and ready to act on it.

"Kitty told me," he said angrily, "zat you asked her to ask me out."

Uh-oh.

"That's- that's right."

"I DON'T NEED YOUR PITY!" he roared in my face.

It was very clear that Kurt wanted to hurt me, and badly. I hoped he was as nice a guy as he had seemed when we weren't fighting. Scott jumped up to get between us.

"Stay out of zis, Scott," Kurt advised.

"I think not," Scott said.

"Scott, back off," I said. Scott stopped in surprise. "Let me handle this."

At that point, Rogue, Kitty, and Logan happened to show up.

"Kurt, what're you doing?!" yelped Kitty.

Logan strode forward, but stopped at a look from me.

Kurt grabbed my arm and ported the kitchen, supposedly to get away from the growing crowd.

"Vell? Vhat's the big idea."

"Of me trying to get Kitty to ask you out?"

"Ja!"

"Well, first I want you to forgive me for earlier. I was a jerk."

"_Vhat?!_"

"It's true. I was an unreasonable, self-righteous bastard. And I don't say bastard lightly."

Kurt looked at his feet. "It vas good advice."

"Yeah, maybe, but it wasn't _reasonable_ advice. If advice isn't reasonable, it's useless, in my humble opinion."

Kurt smiled slightly. "Ja, zat's true. So, vhy did you tell Kitty to ask me out to the dance, rather than going with her yourself?"

I shrugged helplessly. "First of all, I didn't ask her to ask you. She said she didn't have a date, and I suggested you. Just a suggestion. Also… I'm over her, Kurt. There's no longer any interest there, and there never was any return interest. She's all yours."

"All mine?"

I winced. "I mean, I'm not going to give you any competition."

"Vhy aren't you interested any more?"

"I'm kind of… interested in someone else."

"Vho?"

Okay, time to take the plunge. "Your… sister?"

"Oh, all right."

"All right?"

"Vell, Ja. She's a big girl. She can make her own choices. Oh, and Leo?"

"Yeah?"

"If you hurt her… vell, I zink ze vord is 'castra…'

"Okay, okay! I get the message!"

After this, I walked upstairs and calmly laid down on my bed. I was prepared to finish some homework for Biology.

I wasn't expecting to have the others care about this issue _quite_ so much.

It started when I felt myself get lifted up into the air.

Everything clicked in about a second.

"JEAN?! PUT ME DOWN!"

I was shot down the hall at definitely unsafe speeds, down the stairs, and into the rec room. I hit the wall above the couch with my stomach and chin, with a force that would jar someone hitting something _soft_.

As it was…

"OOF! Whose bright idea was this?" I gasped as I slid down onto the couch.

"Mine," said Scott.

I tried to move, but Jean held me down with her mind.

"Jean," I said, "let me up. I have to kill Scott."

"AHHHHHHHOOF!" Kurt quickly joined us. "Vhat ze…?"

"Now look, guys," Scott said, "this is getting serious. You guys have to work this out."

"Say _vhat_?" Kurt said.

"Um, Scott?" That was me.

Scott continued on. "I can understand you guys not liking one another, but you have to work at getting along."

Kurt burst out laughing. I would've, too, but I was now in serious pain, and hungry for blood.

Scott's blood.

"Scott," I said in a calm, my-anger-is-barely-being-controlled-right-now-so-run-like-hell voice, "we worked that out a few minutes ago."

Scott blinked. Yes, I know he was wearing shades, but you could tell anyway.

"You- you did."

"Ja, ve did," rang in Kurt.

"Oh, I- I guess you can let them up, Jean."

That was a mistake. The moment I was up, I made it a point to chase Scott until he had gone into the Danger Room, and then toss him his visor (I'm not _completely_ immoral), lock the door, play with the controls, and leave.

Two hours later, I felt guilty, so I told Jean where he was.

Yes, that's right. Two hours. Maybe I _am_ completely immoral.

When he saw us again, Kurt was laughing hysterically, and I was chuckling, both in the rec room, acting like best friends rather that people who _just_ worked out their differences. I saw him and shouted, "Get in some good training, Scott?"

He groaned, feeling his chin, which looked sore. Kurt and I promptly started laughing again. Scott and Jean both glared at us, and headed upstairs.

I went to bed, absolutely determined to fall asleep earlier than I normally did. Of course, this ended with me staring at the ceiling for a few minutes.

Then a more appreciated interruption came.

"Ya all right, Leo?" asked Rogue, sticking her head in through the door.

"I'll be fine. Nothing a little rest couldn't handle."

"Good." She leaned in, putting her face inches from mine. I promptly lost all form of rational thought, along with the ability to breathe.

"Rogue," I whispered, "what…"

She laughed quietly. "Ah'm just checking to see if ya scraped your cheek on the wall, earlier."

"O-okay."

"Take off your shirt."

I couldn't be hearing right. Maybe I _had_ hit that wall a little hard. "Excuse me?"

"Take off your shirt. Ya hit your stomach, too. Ah wanna see if it's gonna bruise."

I pulled off my shirt, wondering the whole time if it was possible that I _had_ fallen asleep, and was dreaming.

"Hmm," said Rogue. She slowly parted the fur on the middle of my stomach.

_You will not panic. You will not panic._ I mentally chanted to myself. I had a sudden, interesting thought. _You will not do_ that_ either._

_ _

"You seem okay." Rogue said thoughtfully. "Ah'll see ya tomorrow, Leo."

And she left. I swore colorfully for a minute or two, and finally managed to get to sleep.


	12. Twelve

Friday

**Disclaimer: My plot to take over X-men Evolution is underway, but it's not official yet, so I don't own X-men. *Screams in horror as lawyers break down door***

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Friday. The school dance.

Sigh.

I _hated_ it. I swear it was _everywhere_. That damned dance was the topic of every freaking conversation in the school. It would always be some girl who wanted to tell everyone about her new dress, or how she had just had the _cutest_ guy ask her out (I later remarked bitterly that he must be very busy, and received several odd stares), or how her boyfriend had given her a first kiss there, and _everyone_ would talk about their plans. Then, someone would notice I hadn't said anything during the entire conversation, and ask what my plans were. _Then_, I would explain that I couldn't go, and everyone would assume I wasn't able to get a date, and when I said that they were wrong, they would ask me why I couldn't go. I would then freeze up, and they'd still assume that I couldn't get a date.

My life was a living hell.

If it hadn't been for Rogue and Kurt, I would have probably sunk into a deep depression. As it was, Rogue and I simply complained to one another about the whole thing, while Kurt made us laugh by telling everyone he couldn't go because he had leprosy. 

Quite a few people were avoiding Kurt by the end of the day.

The other students at the institute weren't helping. Scott and Jean were suddenly acting so romantic it was sickening. I mean, I'm a hopeless romantic (never, ever tell anyone), and even _I _wanted to throw things at them. Rogue took off her gloves and tried to go after them. Luckily, Kurt was there, and he managed to catch her. Evan and Kitty had found dates (after the whole lunchtime disaster, Kitty asked a football player who had just dumped his girlfriend), and went on and on about them. And on. And on.

Anyway, they would be talking about how much fun the dance was, and then they would look at Rogue/Kurt/me (whoever was closest) and say, "Oh, Rogue/Kurt/Leo, I'm sorry. I forgot you weren't going."

And Rogue/Kurt/I would say, without fail, "No big deal. You can talk about it if you want."

Then they'd give us these pitying looks, like we were some form of animal that wasn't feeling well, and shake their heads.

I mean, _Kurt_ was feeling irritable at the end of the day. I was just plain ticked, and Rogue was downright homicidal.

On the other hand, I was making major points with my English teacher. That day, we were supposed to personify an emotion. I, of course, wrote about anger. At the end of the hour, she said she wanted to talk to me, privately.

"I'm glad we have someone who can think outside of the box. That paper that you wrote about this man, Logan, was very good, and it was refreshing to see a student write about someone other than a girlfriend or boyfriend. And now, with the dance approaching, everyone is thinking about love, and you write this paper about _anger._ Absolutely brilliant, Mister Lyons."

I wisely didn't tell her I wasn't going.

I ran out of the classroom, desperately trying to get to the parking lot where Scott was parked before they managed to get mad about it. "Just because you're not going to the dance tonight," someone would say, "doesn't mean you should slow down everyone who is." The world revolved around the dance that night, or so everyone thought except Rogue, Kurt, and me.

I spun around the corner, and nearly ran into Rogue. We jogged side by side.

"Fightin' in the gym. What made ya late?" she asked.

"English teacher congratulated me."

"What?"

"I wrote a piece on anger that was apparently very inspired."

"Ah see."

Scott's car was in the parking lot, along with a very angry Scott, Jean, Evan, Kitty, and Kurt (I could only assume Kurt had different reasons for being angry. He must've been late too).

"You guys are late," Jean informed us.

"Yes, I know. Not out fault," I tried.

"Who's fault was it, then?" asked Evan.

"Our teachers."

"_Both_ of your teachers?" Kitty.

"Yeah," Rogue put in.

Kitty snorted. I vaguely wondered what was going on between them, but before I could comment, Scott decided to comment.

"Guys, just because you're not going to the dance tonight, doesn't mean you should slow down everyone who is."

I sighed. "Typical."

"What is? Being angry because you're making us late."

"Actually, no. Typical of you to say that. Besides, you certainly aren't rushing for the freaking dance."

Scott pointed toward the car. "Get in."

"Look, I know you're our leader. I accept that. In fact, I can't think of anyone else who would do as well at it as you. But you do _not_ boss me around."

"So you _are_ trying to make us late."

Where the hell had he gotten _that_? "A please would be nice."

"Get in, _please_."

"Well, it's a little sarcastic, but it'll do for now." I climbed in, followed by Rogue and Kurt. I looked at Kurt.

"He give you a hard time, too?"

"Ja. And I beat Evan zere."

The ride didn't improve things. By the time we had reached home, I was mad as hell at Scott, and him at me. The others were all mad at one another, but Scott and I were the major fighters. If anyone made any comments, one of us would reply, and the other one would go after the first. It was very obviously divided, though sometimes Kitty or Kurt would try to make peace with everyone. It never worked, though. Scott or I would, of course, find a problem with it. I walked through the front door angry but still calm. Kurt had 'ported out the first chance he got, and I'd've done it too, if I could've. I saw a note on the doorframe. Grabbed it. Damn, the professor, Ororo, and Logan had some urgent business that had just come up. They'd be back on Sunday. I didn't know if I could live with Scott for two days without adult supervision. Professor Xavier was going to be coming back with bodies hidden all over the mansion.

Scott showed up then. I wordlessly passed the note to him. He read it, and passed it to Jean to tell everyone else. Then he stepped in front of me, blocking my way.

"Get out of my way, Scott."

"No. What's your problem, Leo?"

"The fact that you're in my way, Scott."

"You know what I mean."

"I could ask you the same question."

"Excuse me? I'm not the problem here."

"Oh, really?"

"You're not the boss of me? How juvenile."

"Glad you learned a new word, Scott. Besides, that's not what I said. I said 'Don't boss me around.' There's a big difference."

"It's still juvenile," snapped Scott.

"Don't treat me like a little kid, and you won't think I act like one," I returned.

"_You_ were the one that was late."

"So? Hasn't anyone else ever been late?"

"Sure, by accident."

I shook my head in disgust. "Scott, neither of us is going to agree with the other. Have a fun time."

I started to go around him, but he caught my arm. For a second I pulled back my fist, but luckily I caught myself in time.

"Let… me… go," I hissed.

"Not until you tell me what's going on."

"You want to know what's going on? Fine. Rogue got in trouble for fighting, and I had to talk to my English teacher. And _you_ are completely overreacting. As shocking as it must be to hear this, the world doesn't revolve around this evening."

Scott did what was possibly the dumbest thing he could do. He said, "Well, excuse us for trying to have one night like _normal_ kids."

That was all I could take. I hit him in the jaw. Hard.

There was an audible gasp, and a detached part of myself realized that everyone had been standing there, listening to Scott and me arguing.

"DON'T GIVE ME NORMAL! IS THAT WHY YOU'RE SO MAD AT US?! ARE WE NOT _NORMAL_ ENOUGH FOR YOU?! DO YOU NOT REALIZE HOW LUCKY YOU ARE?! CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT KURT, ROGUE AND I WILL _NEVER BE NORMAL_?!"

Scott stumbled back, more from my voice from my punch.

"KURT, ROGUE AND I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO GO OUT AND HAVE A GOOD TIME WITHOUT WORRYING ABOUT SOMEONE ELSE TOUCHING US, OR KURT AND I TAKING OFF OUR WATCHES! ROGUE WAS RAISED BY A CARETAKER, AND SHE ALMOST NEVER MET HER REAL PARENTS! KURT HAD TO ALWAYS BE ON THE RUN! I'VE BEEN ALMOST KILLED MORE TIMES THAN ANY OF YOU HAVE YEARS LEFT! DON'T YOU TALK TO ME ABOUT _NORMAL_!"

I managed to more or less get control of myself right then. I spun on my heel and headed for the front door, I said, "I'm going to get some air. Stretch my legs. You guys have a fun, _normal_ night."

Then I took off.


	13. Thirteen

I'd been out of the mansion for about an hour, and I was starting to regret some of the things I'd said to Scott

**Disclaimer: I'm sure you get the point.**

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I'd been out of the mansion for about an hour, and I was starting to regret some of the things I'd said to Scott. Don't get me wrong, I had meant every word. But still, I had mentioned some stuff that I had promised myself I wouldn't dwell on. I had a new life, and thinking about the old one wasn't going to help me, or anyone else, for that matter. So, I wandered around an almost deserted town. All the teenagers were off getting ready, I suppose.

Anyway, I decided to head back to the mansion, and see if I could find out what Scott had thought of my little speech. I didn't care if they went to the dance. In fact, I wanted them to go. No reason they couldn't have fun, that wasn't the point. I just wanted them to accept that if they rubbed it in our face, we'd be upset, and with good reason.

I was actually heading home, hoping to make sure they were going, when the unexpected happened.

I ran into Todd.

Not a huge deal, but what he had to talk about was very surprising.

"Yo, Leo!" he called. I stiffened.

"What do you want, Todd?"

"Look, just wait up. I want to talk to you."

He actually sounded like he was trying to be nice to me. I wondered what the hell was going on.

"Hey, Leo!" he exclaimed, and raised his hand to "high-five" me. I didn't raise my hand.

"What do you want, Todd?" I repeated warily.

"Hey, I want to talk. Privately."

"Privately?"

"Privately."

"What's this about?" I asked.

"There's a private place up there," he said, completely ignoring my question.

"Do I need to repeat myself?"

"I'll tell you when we get there." He started to drag me in the direction he had pointed to earlier.

I pulled my arm away. "You must think I'm an complete idiot."

"What's the problem?"

"I'm not exactly about to go someplace private with one of the Brotherhood."

Todd looked urgent. "C'mon, it's important!"

I sighed. "Fine, but I pick the place. I'm no fool."

Todd nodded quickly. We headed in the other direction, for about three blocks, until we had found a short alley, with minimum places for people to jump out at you. I turned to him. "This'd better not have been a trap. I doubt you could take me out alone."

"No, no, it's not a trap. You can trust me."

"I trust you as far as I could throw the Blob."

"Yeah, well, this is an invitation."

For a second, I didn't get it.

"What?"

"Look, Leo. What does the X-men have that the Brotherhood doesn't?"

That took all of three seconds. "Heart."

"How touching," sneered Todd.

"Friends. A future."

Todd shrugged. "Fine. Just figured you'd want to pull your tail out of the fire while you still had the chance."

I glared at him. "Pull my tail out of the fire?"

Todd smirked. "Pun intended."

That wasn't my point. "What fire? Why?"

He paled. "Uh… gotta go!" He tried to hop away, but I snagged his ankles and threw him off balance. Then I grabbed his wrists in one hand, holding them against the nearest wall. My other hand held his head in place, so he couldn't use his tongue.

"Tell me what you mean."

He snorted. "Not a chance."

I frowned. "Todd, your neck is exposed. My hands could be off your head, into your neck, and back on your head before you can react. And you can't just bend your head, because at the front, you've got the windpipe. And at the back, the spine."

He shivered. "Okay. We were going to embarrass the hell out of you at school, using this…"

"Bull. Don't lie to me."

"But I'm not lying." He gave me an innocent look.

"You _are_ lying. I can see it in your eyes."

"I can make up stories all night."

"I can kill you."

He muttered angrily under his breath. Then, "Fine. We were going to storm the mansion, and kill Rogue. We thought we'd give you a chance to be reasonable."

"When? Why Rogue?"

He didn't answer. I slammed his head up against the wall, and he yelped.

"We were going to kill Rogue because you guys are so hard to kill," he whimpered. "We've found a weakness in Rogue's powers, though. If she absorbs too many people, the strain will kill her."

"When?"

"None of your business, freak."

It seemed I had been so shocked by what he had told me, my grip had slipped. His tongue hit me across the face, knocking me backward. I hit the other wall hard, hitting the small of my back on something hard, which knocked the wind out of my lungs.

Todd frowned at me. "You know too much for me to let you go. I'll have to kill you now, or else you'll tell the others."

In desperation, I grabbed the thing behind me. Metallic trashcan lid. I brought it down as hard as I could on the top of Todd's head. He yelled in surprise, anger, and pain. I spun around, and ran out of the alley at top speed.

Madly, I started to search for the communicator Jean had given me. Pants pockets, no, belt, no, shirt pocket, no. Suddenly I remembered I had put it in my bag for Track and Field, and never taken it back out. Which meant that I would have to run to the mansion to warn Kurt and Rogue that trouble was coming.

Because, certainly, trouble was coming. Soon.

After all, when I had asked Todd when they were coming, I was just making sure. I already knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt. They were coming tonight.

I knew, not because of some sudden insight, but just because it made sense. I called them idiots all the time, but in reality, they were far from stupid. Scott, Jean, Evan, and Kitty were all going to be out, and the adults were gone for the entire weekend. It occurred to me that the urgent problem might not be so urgent, but rather planted by the Brotherhood.

Either way, we were three teenagers, alone, with five to seven killers on the way.

Not good odds.

If I didn't get there on time, if they decided to attack before Todd got back, then the only major power they would have would be Rogue's. And that would be exactly what Mystique and Co. would want.

Rogue would be killed. Kurt would probably be killed, there was no way that he'd leave Rogue. I would be heading home, with no backup, and would be killed. Then, they'd have till the others came home, and who knew what would happen then? They'd probably stick around and take out as many people as they could.

Check and mate. I doubled my speed.

Oh, how I wished I had taken my motorcycle! Every second felt like a blow. If I could get home before the others left, then I could help. Once they left…

Suddenly, I remembered something.

I skidded to a stop. ***Jean!***

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***Leo? Leo, what are you doing?***

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I gasped. Then I realized that I had stopped running and started again. ***Listen to me, Jean, we've got trouble! Where are you?***

***Everyone is leaving. We're going to the dance now.***

***Jean, listen to me. Don't go. We need your help.***

***What? What's going on?***

***Jean, the Brotherhood is going to attack. You guys have got to stay home!*** Silence. ***Jean?***

***Leo, that's not funny.***

***Am I laughing?***

***How should I know? Leo, you were raised on the streets. You've got so many mental blocks up, I'm amazed we're communicating at all.***

***I'm not laughing!***

***Look, Leo, I'm sorry you can't go to this dance.*** The dance _again_? ***But stop trying to ruin it for everyone.***

***But…***

***Goodbye, Leo.***

I couldn't get back in contact with her. I tried, but she had shut her mind apart from mine.

It was time to fall back on what I had learned on the street.

When you have to turn to someone for help…

You turn to yourself.


	14. Fourteen

I tore up the driveway, running for all I was worth

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I tore up the driveway, running for all I was worth. I shot through the front door, slamming it shut behind me.

"ROGUE!" I yelled, "KURT!"

A few seconds later, Kurt appeared next to me. Rogue walked down the stairs.

"Is somethin' wrong, Leo?" Rogue asked calmly.

"Ja. Vhat's wrong?"

I quickly told them everything Todd had told me, everything I had figured out on my own, why I hadn't gotten to them earlier, the whole story. By the time I was done, both Rogue and Kurt had gone pale.

"Vhat now?" Kurt asked

I sighed. "Now, we really don't have any options. Jean doesn't believe me, I can't get to the others, and the professor, Logan, and Ororo are out of town. The only option I can think of is to suit up and get ready. We may not be able to stop them, but I for one am going down fighting."

Kurt nodded. "Ja."

Rogue grinned. "Ah think we'd better have more than just outfits. We need a plan."

"Right." I gave her a thoughtful look. "How many people have you taken at once?"

"Err… three."

"Three. Got it. Better not go over that, then." I smirked. "Okay, suit up, and then I'll tell you some of my ideas."

After we were ready, I told everyone my plans.

"That outta slow 'em down." Rogue said, smiling. "Good thinkin' 'Pyro'."

Kurt (or rather, Nightcrawler) 'ported outside, to take care of some things we had at our disposal. Rogue was the bait, and for now I was her only protection.

It wasn't exactly a game that we were playing, after all. We had to be ready for someone to try to break the rules. We could only assume what the next step was going to be, and if we were far wrong, we could all be dead.

It was by no means fun.

Thank goodness someone had installed video cameras around the property, leading to the Danger Room. I flicked them on.

"Camera one through twenty. Nightcrawler's on nine. Right there."

"Great. Ah'm ready."

"Good. Oops. Group one is approaching. Avalanche and May… what's his codename, anyway?"

"How should Ah know?"

"Right. I'm turning on the mike, but it's two-way, so…"

"Ah know, Leo, be quiet. Ya told me six times already."

"Sorry." Click.

"…Our time on this one, anyway? I mean, if I had to do anything now I would level the school. Kills a bunch of humans, and take out some of the X-men at the same time."

"Shadow Walker, _shut up_! We take orders, we don't…"

That was the point when Nightcrawler turned on the outdoor training program.

WHUMP

A second later, a huge, heavy, wood and steel ball went flying into Avalanche's face.

I bit back my laugh. This wasn't over yet.

Avalanche swore madly. "By node! I tink by node es boken!"

WHUMP

May, or rather, Shadow Walker, took the next one in the stomach. He gave out a loud grunt and fell over.

"Dat's et!" shouted Avalanche. "AAARG!"

The gun firing the large balls was broken in the quake that followed. I winced, wondering how I was going to be able to explain the damages to the professor.

I flipped off the mike and glanced at Rogue. "That's two down."

"Ah'm startin' to enjoy this."

Nightcrawler 'ported behind the two of us. "Mission accomplished!" he said, before he burst out laughing. I smirked.

"So far so good," I said. "Now, we just wait for round two."

"Camera six," said Rogue.

"Vow. Not a lot of down time, zen," Kurt noted, chuckling.

"Yeah. And it's a group of three. Good."

Since there was a group of three people, and they were all the students of the Brotherhood, no one was left over, and Mystique would probably not be here. Which was a very good thing.

I fiddled with my watch. "Let's get introduced."

Minutes after this exchange, The Blob, Toad, and Quicksilver showed up at the mansion's front door, to see the three of us calmly standing around, as though nothing was happening. They all stopped in shock.

See, they didn't see Kurt, Rogue, and I, like they would have expected.

No, thanks to a pair of holo-watches, they saw Rogue, Rogue, and Rogue.

Needless to say, they were all quite taken aback.

The three of us flashed look-alike grins (something that had taken Kurt and I about half an hour to learn), then split up, shooting off in different directions. There was a yell of surprise, then the sounds of footsteps after us.

I dodged left as a silver blur shot by me. Close call. But it didn't matter, as we now had a winner.

I took off toward the mansion, dodging and ducking Quicksilver's attempts to make contact with my skin. This was much harder than I would have expected, but then again, that was my fault.

I shot through the mansion, purposely using as many sharp turns and staircases as I could. No sense making things easy for the guy, right? Of course, there was no way I could outrun him, but I had a destination in mind, so it didn't matter.

I finally made the last turn, past the wall that jutted out into the hallway, and toward the heavy door of the fighting section of the Danger Room, which stood open. Quicksilver, not knowing what I had in mind, shot at me, yelling, "Now I've got you, you bi-…"

Remember that wall that jutted out into the hallway? Well, it just so happened that a certain blue, fuzzy teen had teleported behind it. As he heard Quicksilver shout, he promptly stuck his foot out in front of him.

Quicksilver didn't notice until it was too late. He tripped over Nightcrawler's foot, and yelped in surprise as he shot through the air, over my head (I had ducked), and into the Danger Room. I ran up, slammed the door and locked it.

"Nice chase, Quickie!" I shouted into the intercom, as I flipped off my watch. I was answered by loud swearing. I promptly turned on the controls and had some fun. A few seconds later there was a shout of terror, and some loud explosions.

I started snickering. Kurt was laughing so hard, I was afraid he wouldn't be able to breathe. Rogue showed up, and gave both Kurt and I a look.

"Ah guess ya guys caught Quicksilver," she murmured. "Ah had to take out The Blob and Toad, so we've got super strength and good jumpin' for a while."

"Okay," I said, "time to finish off Avalanche and Shadow Walker. Where are those guys?"

Kurt checked the cameras. "Zere. Camera Fifteen."

"First, guys," Rogue said, smirking, "Ah wanna show ya somethin'."

Bewildered, we followed her to the dining room, where she pointed out a window. Kurt and I glanced out… and burst out laughing.

Rogue had taken The Blob… and put him up a tree.

"Ya think it'll keep him busy?" she asked innocently.

"Ja, I zink so!" shouted Kurt happily.

"Okay, okay," I got out, "let's stay focused here."

Both Rogue and Kurt calmed down slightly.

We shot out of the house, and through the yard. Shadow Walker and Avalanche were standing at the gate patiently, waiting, apparently, for the others to open it. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Why, hello there, _May_," I snarled.

"Shut up, kitten," he returned. I bristled.

"Ya makin' a social call, or what?" asked Rogue, sounding weary. The other two assumed we didn't know what was going on.

"Yeah," sneered Shadow Walker, "why don't we just let ourselves in?" He let loose a blast of darkness, sending the gate backward. I got ready.

"Now," said Avalanche, sounding cocky, despite the broken nose, "how 'bout we… OOF!"

Nightcrawler gave Avalanche a quick knee into his gut. He quickly followed up with a kick to Avalanche's jaw and a fist to his broken nose.

I was _very_ glad that he hadn't fought me over Kitty.

Shadow Walker was just too easy. While the sudden fight distracted him, Rogue calmly walked up to him and grabbed his face with an uncovered hand. He collapsed.

Nightcrawler knocked Avalanche to the ground easily, unconscious. I snorted. Too easy.

Nightcrawler looked smug. "Vell, zat vasn't hard."

I was starting to feel worried. "Maybe that was _too_ easy."

"Pyro, don't be crazy," Nightcrawler said. "Ve beat them because ve had a plan. Zey veren't expecting zat."

I was still doubtful. "Yeah, maybe."

Nightcrawler nodded. "Good. Ve managed to beat zem, so let's go celebrate."

Rogue chuckled. "Ah'm willin' to go as far as the kitchen, then dining room."

Nightcrawler grinned. "Ja, vell zen, let's go."

A few seconds later, we were sitting in the dining room when a thought occurred to me.

"You know, we didn't really do anything with the Brotherhood, just left them where they fell."

"Excuse me? Ah did somethin'" Rogue pointed out.

"Well, yeah, but we should…" I trailed off as I glanced out the window. "Uh, Rogue? He's not there."

"What're ya talkin' about?" She followed my gaze. "What the…"

I jumped up. "We should _really_ check the Danger Room."

Nightcrawler 'ported to the Danger Room. I glanced at Rogue, and the two of us ran after him.

When we reached it, he was standing over the control panel, studying the controls. Rogue ran right up to him.

"Is Quicksilver still in here?" she asked.

CRACK

Nightcrawler suddenly spun and backhanded Rogue, knocking her backwards into me. I felt the wind get knocked out of me, and Rogue and I fell backwards.

Nightcrawler gave a smug grin, which was very unlike him. I glanced down at Rogue. She was completely out.

Damn.

I placed Rogue down gently and stepped in front of her as "Nightcrawler" quickly changed into his- or rather, her- true self.

Mystique.

We were such idiots. Since Mystique hadn't been with the others, we just assumed she wasn't in this one. And, of course, we assumed they didn't have any real plan.

We were wrong.

"Surprised, _Pyro_?" she asked sarcastically.

I readied a blast of fire, but she threw open the door to the rooms where we changed, and caught Nightcrawler as he fell out.

"I would be careful, Pyro. If you missed, then your friend here could be hurt quite badly."

Damn her. Damn her damn her damn her damn her.

"I thought he was your son! Why are you doing this?"

Mystique laughed darkly. "I have left that life behind. These children are my enemies, as are you."

She went for Rogue. I tried to place myself between them, but she transformed into the same muscle man she had last time- though this time, he/she was a more manageable seven feet tall- and struck me in the side. I stumbled out of the way.

I spun. "What are you going to do? Touch her yourself? Then I'd kill you while you were out. What's the game plan, Mystique?"

Mystique smiled. "An excellent point," she said, before taking Nightcrawler's hand and thrusting it against Rogue's face, then dropping him to the floor. "Now, I only need one more," she said, turning to me.

Uh oh. I have got to learn to keep my mouth shut.

I stepped backwards, trying desperately to think of a plan. I raised my hand, to give her a blast of fire, but she caught my wrist and dragged me forward.

"Can you imagine the guilt you will feel?" she asked me bluntly. "The death of a friend will be on your hands."

Well, _now_ I could imagine it.

I struggled with her, trying to free my wrist, but she had a very good grip. She caught my other wrist in the other hand, at an angle where I couldn't use fire or my claws to get out.

"Let… me… go," I said dangerously.

But it was too late. She took my hand, and placed it against Rogue's face.


	15. Fifteen

As I felt my skin come into contact with Rogue's, I could feel an almost irresistible pull between us

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As I felt my skin come into contact with Rogue's, I could feel an almost irresistible pull between us.

The key word was "almost".

I cried out as I felt that pull, but somehow I seemed to be able to resist it. With startling clarity, I realized what had happened.

I gave Mystique a cocky grin. "Not this time," I said. "Ever had trouble using your powers after using them for too long?"

She gave me a shocked glance. "She- she's worn out? Her powers aren't as strong as they would be if this was her first victim…"

"Exactly." By now the pull that I had been resisting was gone… but it had left one hell of a headache behind. I wasn't sure which one was worse. Then the pain started to throb.

Oh yes. The headache was much, _much _worse.

"Now," I continued, "I am furious. I am in pain. I am going to give you ten seconds to get out, and then I am going to throw you out if you are still here. Forcibly. Your call."

She could have left. Really. I doubt I could have stopped her, even if I had wanted to. But naturally, she chose to try to kill the three of us. She shot toward me, catching me in the chin with her fist. I stumbled into one of the control panels for the Danger Room. I bounced off of it and into her, knocking her backwards, while I scratched at her madly.

She turned into a huge, orange tiger (I think the choice should be obvious) and leapt. Quickly, I planted my feet into her chest and flipped her over the three of us (I was then in front of Rogue and Nightcrawler), and she landed on her paws, spinning around for another charge. As she leapt again, I nailed her hard in the chest with a blast of fire. She roared in pain as I charged another blast.

"Your call, Mystique," I repeated.

She roared again, and ran up the stairs. I followed her to make sure she didn't do any damage to the mansion as she ran to the front door and out into the night.

I slowly turned as I shut the door behind her. I hadn't showed it earlier, but resisting Rogue's touch had worn me out quite a lot. I stumbled to the Danger Room, kneeled down next to Rogue, and carefully checked her pulse.

I didn't bother with gloves, and I didn't need to. There still wasn't any sort of pull coming from Rogue. And she was just fine, her heartbeat calm and steady.

"Well," I said, "That turned out well."

Then I passed out.

I woke up to the sun on my face.

It was not the best way to wake up, when one has a headache-from-hell.

I bit down on my pillow hard, and managed to resist the urge to scream at the top of my lungs. I'd be damned if _that_ would help my headache…

Wait a minute. Pillow? In the Danger Room? What the hell?

I carefully opened my eyes again, and glanced around. I was in my bedroom, lying on my bed. Kurt or someone else must have taken me up here. I wondered how long I had been asleep. A quick glance at the clock showed it to be six. Figured. Even when I got knocked out I woke up at an appointed time.

I scanned the room, not really sure what I was looking for, just scanning.

What I wasn't expecting to find was Logan sleeping at the foot of the bed, in a straight-backed chair. I quickly went from surprise, to feeling touched, to surprise again.

"Logan, when did you get back?" I muttered. His eyes blinked open and he glanced at me.

Then he grabbed me in a huge bear hug.

For about five seconds, I thought I might die of shock. For the five seconds after _that_, I thought I might die of lack of oxygen.

"Logan… ack!" I managed to get out.

He let go of me. "You all right, Junior?"

"Give me some air and some Tylenol, and I'll be fine."

Logan walked to the door, and I expected him to be getting some painkillers. Then he did something not worthy of anything I had done the night before.

"HE'S UP!" he roared, causing my brain to jump, spin in a circle, and settle down again.

"OW! Oh, ow. Owwwwww."

"Sorry, kid."

"Leo!" shouted Rogue as she shot through the door. She wrapped her arms around my chest, and held me tightly. I found I liked this situation.

"Ah'm so sorry! It's all my fault. Ah'm so sorry!"

"For what?" I said quickly, "It wasn't your fault at all."

"Ah… what if ya had _died_, Leo?"

"Then you'd blame yourself for the rest of your life, most likely. And what is it about all this death stuff? Why is Logan back so early? What the hell is going on?"

Before my questions could be answered, Kurt 'ported into the room. "Leo, are you all right? Vhat happened?"

"You were there, Kurt."

"Ja, vell, vhat happened vhen I vas knocked out?"

The rest of the X-men showed up right about then. We managed to get the same questions asked about three times each, before I finally managed to take control of the situation.

"Wow, you guys, I'm really touched. I mean, you all were worried about me just because I passed out. And yet, here you all are, yelling out questions, and none of you has gone to get me SOMETHING FOR MY HEADACHE, DAMMIT!"

Everyone shut up, gave one another sheepish looks, and turned to Kurt, who 'ported out at that point, and returned with two Advil and a tall glass of water, which I finished in about three swallows.

"Thank you. Now, as the person who has been passed out all night, I feel I have the right to know what the hell is going on. Why are you freaking out, and why are the adults here already?"

There was a pregnant pause, before Ororo cleared her throat and said, "Today is Tuesday, Leo."

I blinked. "Say what?"

"It's true, man. You've been asleep for three and a half days," Evan added.

"SAY _WHAT_?!"

"At first, your heart rate had slowed down considerably, and you were barely breathing," the Professor informed me.

"Ah… Ah thought you were goin' ta… ta…" Rogue stared at the floor. "Ya know."

Wow. No wonder everyone was worried about me. If it had happened to one of them, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. It suddenly occurred to me that Logan probably hadn't.

"How long have you been in here?" I asked Logan. He shrugged and muttered something to the floor.

"I'm sorry?"

"Ever since he got home," Jean informed me. "We've been bringing his meals up here."

What do you say to _that_? "Oh."

No, that's not what you say to that. It was, however, the only thing I could think of at the moment.

The professor spoke up suddenly. "If everyone would leave, I need to discuss a few things with Leo. Rogue, you may stay as well."

Rogue sat slowly on the bed while everyone else filed out of the room. Logan gave me a quick, cryptic glance before closing the door behind him.

"Now, Leo. Kurt and Rogue have told me as much of what happened as they could. However, neither of them knows what happened after they were rendered unconscious. Could you fill us in on this small gap, perhaps?"

You already know the story. I summed it up and told him.

The professor nodded. "Yes, that would explain it."

"And '_it_' would be what?"

The professor leaned forward. "While you were unconscious, Jean and I ran some tests." He stopped to see my reaction.

"Of course. Go on."

"Do you understand the principals of vaccines?"

"Well… yeah. The body is given a small amount of a viral strain, and the immune system learns how to fight the virus." I turned to Rogue and winked. "Health class." Then I turned back to Professor X. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"When you touched Rogue in her weakened state, the small amount of power… acted as a vaccine."

I stiffened. "So I have an immunity to Rogue's powers."

"We aren't entirely sure. The only way to be certain is to have the two of you make contact."

Both Rogue and I glanced at one another.

The professor smiled. "I'll leave you two alone to work this out."

After the professor had left, Rogue and I couldn't think of anything to say. We sat on the bed for a few minutes, staring at anything except one another. Finally, Rogue spoke up.

"We should probably wait until you're feelin' better before we try anything," she said slowly.

I glanced at her. "Actually… I don't think I can wait any longer."

She glanced up in surprise. "What…"

I kissed her gently. I didn't actually plan to, but that was what happened. We kissed gently for a few seconds/an eternity before breaking apart.

"I… I guess it worked." I said, then kicked myself for not being able to come up with something more romantic.

"Ah guess so," she replied. Then she kissed me again.

We sat there for about ten minutes, kissing, before I winced. "Damn. We have school."

"Right. If Ah were you, Ah'd get dressed."

It was right about then that I realized that someone had stripped me down to a T-shirt and boxers. I blushed deeply, grabbed a close-at-hand pair of jeans, and yanked them on. "I can't believe you didn't tell me I was wearing next to nothing."

Rogue grinned. "Let's just say school was far from my mind at the moment."

My blush deepened. "Err… I guess we should tell the others that everything worked out."

"Ah see what ya mean. Ya know, Ah've never told anyone I was dating someone else."

"First time for everything." We walked out of the room… for about five feet. Then I felt someone grab me from behind and throw me back onto the bed.

"Logan! What're you doing?"

Logan smirked. "Professor's orders. You gotta stay in bed for a while, Junior."

I considered getting up, but it would have been a wasted effort. I growled and laid back. "How long?"

"'Til Saturday."

"Are you kidding?"

"No. You'll have to stay in bed 'til the weekend. You need yer rest. Night, Junior."

I groaned and stared at the ceiling. "This is going to be a _long_ week."


End file.
